X-Men in Hogwarts
by Booshea831
Summary: The X-Men receive letters inviting them to attend the magic school of Hogwarts. It's an amazing experience but a certain events dig up old memories from Logan's past and may just explain how he became "The Wolverine." No slash Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Okay this is a crossover of Xmen: Evolution and Harry Potter. It's set before Harry goes to Hogwarts about two years after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was destroyed and fled to Albania. I'm pretty sure that this is the only story about the X-Men actually attending Hogwarts so that's exciting. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter or X-Men Evolution. Both belong to their respective owners.**

Professor X sat staring out the window, his hands clasped together. The computer screen showed a list of each of the X-men, the youngest center screen. Each had their picture and name below that, and a large number next to the picture. The numbers next to Kitty Pryde, Kurt Wagner, and Rogue all read eleven. Scott and Jean both had a large eleven next to their names as well, though they were approaching twelve. Evan Daniels's number read ten, but at the stroke of 6pm, which it was, it changed to an eleven. The computer beeped. Professor X looked at it; every number staring back at him was eleven. He smiled. _Just in time_, it was three months to September.

Maneuvering his wheelchair to the desk in the corner, he picked up several letters lying on its surface. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on Jean Grey. _Jean, tell the others to meet me in Cerebro. I have something important to tell all of you._

Logan scowled, the room holding Cerebro wasn't that big to begin with, and being squished in it with a bunch of kids was sheer torture. Especially when the clone kid(Logan hadn't bothered to remember his name, only his irritating habit of multiplying himself) had at least seven of himself walking around. But at least it was only couple of extra kids, plus the X-Men. Storm, Rogue, Jean, Scott, Kurt, Hank, he could handle them, but preferred working solo, _without_ children. Professor X entered and turned to address them. "X-Men only, I'm afraid. The rest of you may return to your rooms." There were several groans, but with the extra kids gone, including Multiple, it was a little roomier. Still, Logan didn't move from his spot leaning against the wall

Professor X held up a bundle of letters. They were all rather large, and bulky, covered in shiny emerald green writing. Kitty saw her name, and looked eagerly to the Professor for an explanation. "These," Professor X began, "Are letters to each of you present. They are letters of acceptance, to a school in Europe." Logan raised an eyebrow; _didn't the kids already attend Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters? What'd they need a new school for? _He'd never admit it, but Logan had become rather fond of the kids. Professor X set the letters on his lap, and turned to Cerebro. A simple thought sent it into overdrive, a large map of the world zooming in to Scotland, pinpointing the side of a mountain. A decrepit ruin was what they were now staring at. Rogue snorted: _that's_ where they were going? Professor X typed in a code, and the ruin expanded, the screen went black, and when it lit back up, a large IWN appeared on the screen, two wands crossed underneath. Tiny lettering under the wands caught Logan's attention. _International Wizarding Network…. He's joking right?_ The ruin reappeared, but slowly pixelated into a large picture of a castle. "Hogwarts," Professor X explained, "Is a school of magic and gifts. This is where you will be attending." He opened the topmost letter, and began to read:

"Professor Xavier, Headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and my dearest friend,

I send my regards that I haven't contacted you sooner, but several things have come up, commanding my attention. One of which, I have just gotten to: several of your students, and some of your staff, have magical abilities, whether aware of it or not. I believe you call it being a 'mutant?' Well I think it is high time you stop diluting yourself to this, and come to visit Hogwarts. As it happens, we have teaching positions open that I'm sure you could accommodate with your staff. Several of your students are, or are approaching the age of eleven, at which time they are all of that age, letters will be sent.

Hoping to see you soon; Your friend,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Order of Merlin First Class, Headmaster to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

"Diluting?" Ororo 'Storm' Munroe muttered. "Staff?" Logan scowled. He was not staff. Staff couldn't leave, he could. Professor X handed each person their letter, all of the kids excitedly opening and reading them. Logan, Storm, and Hank McCoy also received letters. Professor X put his fingers together, elbows resting in his lap. "It is late, and you're all tired. No doubt you need some time to take this in. We'll talk more tomorrow. Everyone left rather leisurely, but not Logan. As soon as Professor X said he could go, he was gone. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he allowed himself a little curiosity and opened the letter addressed to: Logan(James) "Wolverine" Howlett, The third largest bedroom, Xavier Institution, Bayville NY. He'd never realized his room was one of the largest. Interesting. The letter was written in swirling green ink that seemed to shine like it was fresh, though it was quite dry. He began to read:

_Dear Mr. Howlett,_

_ In response to Professor Charles Xavier's letter, you will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at our school this year. Please be sure to pick up some books on the subject as a refresher. A small sorting ceremony will take place just for the new staff, to properly welcome you to Hogwarts. If you have any questions, you may consult me, Minerva McGonagall Head of Gryffindor House. Professor Dumbledore has told the staff of your unfortunate "condition." It's a shame we weren't told sooner, or it could have been resolved long ago. When you arrive, please consult Professor Severus Snape for a potion regarding your memory. If you need time to analyze your new found memories, a Pensieve is available. It is also mandatory that you receive a wand, so please acquire one on your next trip to Diagon Alley. We will see you September 1. An owl has already been sent about your arrival, but if you require anything additional please send another before the start of term. We look forward to seeing you at Hogwarts this year._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House_

Logan set the letter next to him and lay back, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't entirely convinced this wasn't just some cruel joke. Hank McCoy wondered the same thing, but went one step further in trying to prove (or disprove) his theory. Every test either failed or did nothing. When he tried pouring an invisible ink revealer on the letter, thinking it was hiding the real message, the liquid, not the letter, began to smoke. He sighed and stopped the tests: the letter was legit and this Minerva McGonagall was real. She could really help control his "beast" form. _And,_ he was going to be teaching Care of Magical Creatures, which he guessed had something to do with, well, magical creatures. _Right up my alley._

Storm read her letter over and over. She practically glowed at the compliment: "We've been told of your amazing intelligence," And was thrilled at the subject she was given to teach: Herbology. She loved plants; especially her plants and _teaching_ about them really couldn't be that hard.

Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, and Evan were all in Rogue and Kitty's room, comparing their letters and talking excitedly. "The castle looks so beautiful," Kitty sighed wistfully. "We get _wands_! Real wands!" Evan said, flourishing a fake one. "This says I won't have to wear my image inducer. They have a special way of concealing my fur!" Kurt said, lying upside down on Kitty's bed. Kitty was suddenly up and pulling things out of her closet, littering the floor with shirts, pants, and jackets. "What should I wear? What do you wear to a wizard school?" Rogue scanned the letter, "It says we buy robes, and cloaks, and a hat, and some dragon hide gloves." The others looked at her, and Kitty dove (through her bed the first time) and grabbed her letter, reading it herself. "Dragon hide? _Dragon? _They exist? They're like, real?" Evan poked one of his own spikes. "I bet their spikes are even sharper. Wouldn't it be cool to see one?" The others nodded. Rogue read the list again, "Hey we can have owls, or cats, or toads!"

Jean and Scott read their letters again, both excitedly talking about Hogwarts. Jean had gotten the code to access the IWN and was reading what she'd found on Hogwarts to Scott. He pointed to a link on the page, "Click that one." Jean obliged, and the screen became filled with a montage of words and pictures. Several had people in funny hats and masks, one showed a blown up house, and the last one showed a pale, snake-faced man in black robes. They were all moving; like tiny videos. Jean read the first page, her eyes widening. "Scott! This says there were, and still are, bad wizards around! Their leader disappeared, Voldi- Voldm- I can't even pronounce it." She clicked the next button, and half the screen became filled with a blurred, rapid moving picture. The man in the black robes swept up to a house; there were several flashes of green light, and then an explosion that ripped the top half of the house apart. Farther down the page, a picture of a small sleeping boy amid the wreckage, a small scar visible on his forehead. Jean read the passages underneath, "O my goodness, Scott! This says the evil wizard tried to kill this little boy! He was only 1! And he survived this-this killing curse!" Scott read the passage Jean was pointing to. He gave a low whistle, "Good thing the bad guy's dead then." Jean shook her head, reading the last sentence: "In an exclusive interview with Albus Dumbledore, he stated, 'Do I believe Voldemort is gone? Yes. Dead? No. He's out there, biding his time, weak and powerless, waiting to return. But yes, in a sense, he is gone and that is reason to rejoice.'" Jean turned to Scott who, if his eyes could be seen, were wide in shock. Finally, he closed his mouth, blinking, "Well the guy is gone, for now. And if he comes back, well he's never met the X-Men." Jean smiled, she didn't think the guy was dead, but he wouldn't turn up anytime soon, she felt.

The next morning, Professor X called all of the X-Men together to the X-Jet. "I didn't even get breakfast," Kurt grumbled. Professor X smiled, "Don't worry Kurt; there's food on the jet. Unfortunately I can't go with you on your shopping trip, but an old friend will meet you there. Hank is in charge until you get there. After, I believe my friend will be of better help in finding your way around, no offense Hank." Hank shook his head, "Completely okay. In fact, I agree." Professor X departed the X-Jet, waving to them as it took off, heading to the first step in confusion, in Logan's mind. Listening to someone he'd never met was going to be a challenge. Listening to people he _did_ know was a challenge. He let out a breath and leaned back in his seat. _Might as well take a nap, England is not exactly just "across the pond."_


	2. Chapter 2

The jet was on auto-pilot most of the trip, and it was considerably later than they'd first thought, because of time zones, by the time they reached their destination, and as it was around 7:00pm, they spent the night in the X-Jet. The next morning, having landed in an empty field, they waited: Professor X had told them his friend was meeting them there. A man came forward, whistling and twirling a pink frilly umbrella in his left hand. From on the jet, he looked like any normal man but this was not the case when they were on the ground. The man was extremely tall, and rather large. His hands were as big as garbage lids, his feet like small dolphins. A great scraggly beard hid most of his face, also surrounded by a mane of scraggly hair. "Hello! You must be the ones I'm s'posed ter meet! Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. You mus' be Mr. McCoy! 'Eard lots 'bout you, all of ya'!" he boomed. Logan smirked; he'd been expecting some guy in crisp suit or something, positively radiating rules. But this man, Logan was pretty sure he was a little crazy. Hagrid smiled under his beard at the others, before turning toward the X-Jet. "Well we can' have some muggle seein' this then." He pointed his pink umbrella at the jet, which vanished. Several of the kids gasped, making Hagrid chuckle. "Disillusionmen' charm. Never been real good at 'em but I reckin' I did ok fer now. Although best not to mention tha' to anyone at Hogwarts, if ya' don' mind." He began walking towards the city they could vaguely see, motioning them to follow. "Is he serious? We're not like, _walking_ the whole way!" Kitty hissed to Rogue, who shrugged.

They'd only walked about twenty feet when Hagrid stopped on top of a hill. "Everyone gather roun' now. Tha's right okay now everyone grab hold a tha'," he pointed to an old bicycle missing a wheel and badly rusting, "Come on now, grab hold." Everyone cautiously held the bike, feeling foolish. _This is dumb_, Logan thought, _we are really gullible._ Thirty seconds passed, nothing happened. "Any momen' now," Hagrid said. And then it happened: a sharp jerk and they were flying through the air, indistinguishable blurs swirling beneath them. Kitty found it fascinating and terrifying at the same time, _this would be a terrible time to phase_. "Alrigh' then le' go," Hagrid called over the whooshing of the air. And now Logan was positive this guy was crazy, "Are you insane?!" He yelled back. The shapes below were moving alarmingly fast, they had to be going a hundred miles an hour. And this guy wanted them to let _go_? Logan knew he could survive the fall, but the others? They didn't have a healing factor, and their bones were not adamantium coated. He suddenly became alarmed, like the time he'd been between a cliff and Sabertooth with only regular bone-claws. But this time, he was alarmed at the look on Kitty's face: she looked calm, but calm in the way she did when she _phased_.

And she did, falling down, down, down certainly to her death or a concussion if she managed to phase through the ground. And then he'd let go, falling after her, trying to catch her. He expected to catch Kitty and fall to the ground, saving her but probably breaking something in the process. He did _not _expect that the others would follow suit and let go, falling down to their deaths as well. He couldn't save them _all! _The ground came rushing up to meet them and right before he hit it, he stopped. So did everyone else. The froze, inches from the ground, suspended in the air, before falling and hitting the ground from only a couple of inches in the air. Logan lay on his back, panting, and his heart racing. So _this_ was magic. Scott helped Jean up, who glanced towards Logan. "I'm glad we didn't tell him about what we read," she whispered to Scott. He nodded. Hagrid landed, on his feet, next to them. "Well tha' was fun." He tossed the bike into a pile of garbage; they were now only a couple of feet from the city. Hagrid turned and began walking towards an alley lined with shops, "You comin'?"

If this was Diagon Alley, Storm was disappointed, but she didn't show it. The alley had only a couple of shops, many dark and dreary. Hagrid walked past them all, towards a pub that didn't look any more inviting. The sign swinging above the door read "The Leaky Cauldron." It was small, but not crowded, which was good considering their group. Logan walked past her and practically collapsed into the nearest chair. She noticed he hadn't seemed like his normal self since the- what had Hagrid called it? - portkey. Logan hadn't seemed to like that at all. Hagrid sat down next to Logan, motioning the others to sit. An older, slightly hunched, balding man came over. "Your usual Hagrid?" he asked. Hagrid nodded and Logan looked up from the spot on the table he'd been staring at. He suddenly realized- with its barrels and kegs- that this was a pub; one of his favorite places. Hagrid was ordering for them all, so he began to take in the rest of the pub. A rickety staircase led to what the crooked sign said was "Room and Board." There were several small tables and two large, one of which they were sitting at, along with a wall lined with barrels and a bar counter.

The bartender (and landlord he later learned), Tom, came back with a tray filled with glasses. He said the name of each as he set it down. "One mulled mead (Hagrid's), three firewhisky (Storm, Hank and Logan), and six butterbeers (Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, Jean, Scott, and Evan)." Storm seemed genuinely shocked, (as did the others) that Hagrid had ordered such a thing for the kids. Hagrid saw her expression and chuckled. "Butterbeer doesn' have anythin' bad in it. Perfectly safe." She relaxed slightly, but watched carefully as Kurt took a sip. "Wow that's good!" The others tried, nodding or voicing their agreement. Logan was still staring at his firewhisky. He wasn't sure what it was, and after that portkey he was hesitant to try anything Hagrid said was a good idea. He wasn't too keen on Storm staring into his soul, trying to tell him something using telepathy she didn't have, so he grabbed the glass and walked to the wall covered in paper.

News reports, pictures, and flyers were plastered all over it, but what interested him most was that the pictures _moved_. He watched them, curious as to how this was even possible. But the pictures were not what made him tense. A news clipping taped in the middle of the collage seemed to be the center of attention, and for good reason. "You-Know-Who Vanquished at Last!" the headline said. As he continued to read, the whispered statement Jean had said to Scott made sense. A crazy madman had been running around killing people because he thought he was doing the world a favor? That didn't sound too farfetched. Nor did it sound unfamiliar: every crazed villain they'd ever been up against had done this. But none of them had ever gone after a family and tried to kill an _infant_ because of a stupid prophecy. All though their heads were messed up, the villains they'd defeated were not _that_ dumb. The picture at the top of the article showed a blurry, rapid movement, and one had to look very close to see the pale, snake-like face of Voldemort. Logan absentmindedly took a sip of the firewhisky, forgetting that he hadn't planned on drinking it. It was actually pretty good; he drained his glass and went back to the table for more.

Hagrid had ordered food, which Kurt was eyeing hungrily. Hagrid was deep in a conversation with Tom, but looked over when Logan sat back down. "'Nother round fer my friend here Tom," Tom refilled Logan's glass while Hagrid turned to the kids who were all looking at the food. He chuckled, "What are ya' starin' at it fer? Eat!" Everyone dug in, and it didn't take long for the food to disappear. Kurt licked his lips, and looked for the dessert. "There's no dessert menu here!" Hagrid chuckled while Storm opened her mouth to scold Kurt. "Don' worry. We can stop at Florian's fer ice cream." He stood, bumping the table slightly, and made his way to the back door, handing Tom a letter as he did. "Dumbledore said he'd take care o' the bill," Kitty looked at the many cleared plates and felt kind of guilty: Dumbledore had invited them to his school and now he'd paid for their food. Hagrid turned to find them all still sitting at the table. "Well come on then, we got to get yer supplies!" They stood and followed him out the back door of the pub, expecting to see the impressive display of shops that was Diagon Alley. They were therefore surprised, and disappointed, to find a plain brick wall. Hagrid took out his umbrella and tapped a series of bricks. There was an odd scraping, some clicks, and the bricks began to separate, peeling back like some odd door to reveal the alley behind it. "Welcome," Hagrid said, "To Diagon Alley."

_This is what a wizarding alley should look like_, Storm thought. Shops lined both sides, displaying colorful and inviting storefronts of all kinds of goods. It was filled with bustling witches and wizards, catching up with friends, toting their purchases, or admiring the displays. Kitty did a little dance, and pulled out her list. She couldn't wait to see everything! Hagrid smiled at her enthusiasm, and nodded to the impressive building at the far end. "Quick stop a' Gringotts, then we can get yer supplies."

Gringotts was indeed a very impressive building. Two guards stood outside the door, looking down at them as they passed, or rather _up_ at them: the goblins didn't quite reach their waists. Hagrid pushed the large bronze doors open, pointing to the engraving on the set of silver doors ahead, "There ain't no place safer than Gringotts, 'cept fer Hogwarts o' course." Logan scanned the motto,

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"Impressive," Hank muttered, but that was nothing compared to the hall beyond these silver doors. Hundreds of goblins sat counting, cleaning, and sorting large and small coins. Several looked at them as they passed, but most simply ignored them. An older, wrinkled goblin sat behind a rather large pedestal, staring down his long nose at them. "Hogwarts business," Hagrid grunted, and handed the goblin a large key he'd pulled from his pocket. The goblin held the key in his long fingered hand, weighing it in his palm before turning to the goblin next to him, and began to speak in an odd rasping language that made no sense to the visitors. Hagrid let out a sigh, "Hate it when they talk in their native tongue. Always feel they're talkin' 'bout me." _Native tongue? _Rogue mouthed to Kurt. He made a face and gave a small shrug. The goblin turned back to them, and gestured to the goblin next to him: "Griphook will take you to your vault." They had taken two steps when the goblin held out his hand in a stopping gesture, "The cart can only fit two, including Hagrid." Hagrid turned and gave a shrug, "One then, who wan's to come?" Storm stepped forward and when no one else stepped forward in her place, Hagrid shrugged and nodded. "Alright then, the rest a' you can start with the shoppin' we'll be along shortly to pay fer it. Sorry 'bout tha'." Storm, Hagrid, and Griphook disappeared through one of the many doorways, leaving the others to show themselves out, no one regretting that they didn't get to stay in the company of the goblins any longer.

"Flourish and Blotts," they were told, was the bookstore. But like the rest of the shops around it, it wasn't big enough to hold all of the X-Men. Logan, more for his own benefit than the others, suggested splitting up and meeting back somewhere when they were done. "How about the wand shop?" Kurt suggested, "We all need wands anyway." The others agreed, and split into groups of two, backfiring Logan's plan of returning to the Leaky Cauldron for another firewhisky, and set out to tackle their set tasks. Rogue, Hank, Scott, and Jean headed into the bookstore: seven sets of eight books was going to be a challenge to carry, not to mention the extra "refresher" books for Storm, Hank, and Logan on their subjects. Kurt and Evan headed towards what they hoped was a store that sold telescopes, cauldrons, phials, and scales, surely Potage's Cauldron Shop sold them all.

Logan and Kitty headed towards Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, "Of all the places to go, I'm stuck with half-pint at a clothing store," Logan muttered. A short, friendly looking lady greeted them when they entered, "Hogwarts? First year? Thought so, come with my dear and we'll get you fitted. And you sir? Robes for yourself?" Logan hesitated, was he really going to wear a cloak and hat in _public_? Madame Malkin was looking at him expectantly, so he nodded, cursing himself later for agreeing to something so stupid. It was ten minutes of waiting before Kitty came out in black robes that were still far too big for her. Madame Malkin was hurrying behind her, protesting that her father shouldn't see her in robes that don't fit properly. "O no, I-I'm not her father," Logan said hurriedly, "More of an, _Uncle_ really." But Madame Malkin was already busy fitting the robes to Kitty, her wand making intricate swirls and twirls in the air as a needle flew in and out of the fabric. She finely smiled, satisfied. "Well now that's one of three, and a cloak, hat, and gloves." Logan groaned, why couldn't he have gone _book shopping_?

Evan set down the third telescope he'd picked up. "Does it _matter_ if it's gold or bronze? It's a telescope!" Kurt shrugged, "The letter says bronze, besides all we need is the telescopes and cauldrons and we're done!" Evan rolled his eyes, "Right cause today is free stuff day, and we don't need money to pay for it. Hagrid hasn't come back with the money yet remember?" No sooner had he said this when the door jingled and Storm was at his side, holding a leather pouch that was heavily laden with Galleons, Sickles, and Knots. "What was that you said?" Kurt asked. Evan rolled his eyes again.

"_History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_, I think we have them all guys," Hank said, reading through the list one more time. Hagrid entered the shop, and handed the manager his money. "Alrigh' then? We've got ter get you over to Mdame Malkin's fer yer robes." Jean shifted her weight, the pile of books she was carrying teetering precariously, "Logan and Kitty have that covered." Hagrid snorted, "Not unless yer all the same size they don'." Indeed, that was the problem Kitty and Logan had discovered in their shopping. The hats and gloves were easy enough, and Kitty had several of the hats on her head. Everything else, needed to be fitted to the wearer. Much to Logan's dismay, Madame Malkin decided that to pass the time waiting for them, she'd find robes for him. She'd held up a truly horrid yellow set, stating that Gilderoy Lockhart simply adored them. It was clear, that if said Lockhart was at Hogwarts, that he and Logan would not get along. Kitty was in a fit of giggles over the whole thing, and it took all his strength not to shred the yellow robes to pieces. He was saved, by the arrival of the others. Madame Malkin flicked her wand, sending the yellow robes pack onto the rack, before bustling over to assist them. "Hogwarts? The lot of you? Good, good plenty of new first years!" She then busied herself in fitting each X-Men kid to their robes and cloaks. Logan had gone outside, none too keen on being bombarded with more unwanted robes if he stayed.

When they finally finished, it became apparent that there was no way everything was returning to the X-Jet by being carried. Hagrid said he'd take care of it, and sent them off to Ollivander's to receive the last and most important item on their lists: a wand. As they left, Logan wasn't sure whether to be relieved that Hagrid was taking their purchases, or worried they'd return to find them on fire. With everything that had happened that day, it was not so impossible. Ollivander's was, like every other shop, not extremely big, nor was it really that impressive looking. In fact, besides the Apothecary and the entrance to Knockturn Alley, it was one of the least inviting store fronts. Peeling gold letters stated _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._ and a single wand lying on a faded, purple cushion was the display in the window. The interior was really no better: a single chair sat in the corner, and shelves upon shelves of thin boxes filled the remainder of the shop. An old man with whispy, white hair came from the back room; his pale eyes were slightly unnerving.

He took one look at them and immediately took them for exactly what they were: first year Hogwarts students. Although, his assumption that a father, Logan, and his wife, Storm, and an Uncle, Hank, were here for wands for their children, was entirely wrong. Logan found it slightly annoying that this was the second time someone had that that they were all related; did it really look that way? Mr. Ollivander took a box off the shelf, blowing a thin layer of dust off it before removing the wand within and handing it to Kitty. If the chair was supposed to be a parrot, it was a perfect match, but apparently Ollivander didn't think so: he snatched the wand back and handed her another. Again, if the chair was supposed to glow and whistle, it was a perfect match. Several wands and transformations later, Kitty had a wand that Mr. Ollivander told them was 9 ½ inches long, Holly, with a unicorn hair core. _Whatever that means_, Logan thought. They were right to get their wands last, because it took quite a while. Eventually every one of the kids had a wand: Kurt(11 inches, oak, unicorn hair), Rogue(10 ½ inches, willow, dragon heartstring), Evan(11 ¼ inches, hornbeam, dragon heartstring), Jean(12 ½ inches, chestnut, phoenix tail feather) and Scott(12 ¼ inches, mahogany, unicorn hair). Logan was fine with leaving then and there: during the quest for Evan's wand, he'd been turned into a real wolverine; an experience he wouldn't like to repeat. However Storm, forever reliable, reminded them that she, Logan, and Hank needed wands.

The fact that two grown "wizards" and a grown "witch" needed wands earned them a curious look from Mr. Ollivander. He said nothing, and the quest continued, irritating Logan more with each failed wand, that only eased slightly when, on his third failed wand, he'd turned Storm into a turtle. Unfortunately Ollivader switched her back, and after another hour of trial and error, the three had wands: Hank(13 ¼ inches, hazel, dragon heartstring), Storm(12 inches, pear, unicorn hair), and Logan(11 ½ inches, hawthorn, dragon heartstring). Logan was relieved to be out of that store, and on his way back to the X-Jet. True to his word, Hagrid had delivered everything there, and instead of using a portkey to travel the miles between the jet and them, Hagrid had an acquaintance of his, an Arthur Weasley who had also been taking his kids shopping for materials (Charlie, a first year, and Bill a third year) use sidelong apparition to deliver them back to the jet, which in Logan's opinion was decidedly worse than traveling by portkey. _From now on, I'm _walking_, or _driving_._


	3. Chapter 3

Although it seemed as if it were many weeks until September first, in reality it was only about two. So when, on August thirty-first, Rogue's alarm went off at six in the morning, her thought was that it was someone's idea of a cruel joke: they weren't going until tomorrow. But in truth, with the six hours it took to get there, plus the time difference, leaving the day before was necessary. It was rather grumpily that everyone made their way to the X-Jet; Professor X included this time, and departed for London. To keep himself in a somewhat good mood, Logan reminded himself that he wasn't apparating, and there was no portkey.

The next morning, Hagrid met with them again for a few quick reminders, and their tickets. Logan stared at his ticket: the platform number must be wrong. He looked up to ask Hagrid, but found him gone. They were stranded in King's Cross Station with suitcases filled with magical items, and a ticket that said "Platform 9 ¾." Something was off. Hank turned at a familiar voice: it was Arthur Weasley, leading his children, and a woman who could only be his wife, through the crowd. "He'll know," he said and motioned the others to follow. When they reached the Weasley family, Arthur Weasley was nowhere to be seen, and neither were Charlie or Bill. Mrs. Weasley was holding the hand of a small red haired boy, who looked about eight, and the hands of two boys who could only be twins and looked about six. A smaller boy of about four was in her arms. Arthur, Bill, and Charlie all came around the corner holding tickets, a small girl of about three swinging on Arthur's arm. They had no idea the Weasley family was so big! Hank cleared his throat and approached Arthur, "Excuse me, I believe we met some time ago? I was wondering if you could tell me how to get on to-to the, uh,.." He trailed off, suddenly not knowing how to ask. Mrs. Weasley came to his rescue: "You must be the ones Arthur told me he helped some weeks ago. Yes the platform? Well its Bill's third year and this- Charlie stop that! - is Charlie's first year. She held her hand out to Hank, "Molly Weasley lovely to meet you. Are all these yours? All first years? Wonderful! Yes this is Arthur, but you've met him, and my eldest, Bill, Charlie- second child, Percy will be starting in about three years, Ron here won't start for another seven or so, Ginny over there, my youngest and only daughter and then the twins, Fred over there and George right here." She pointed to one of the twins, who was poking a bug with a stick. He looked up and pouted, "I'M not George I'm FRED. THAT'S George." Molly shook her head, "Sorry Freddie." 'George' looked up, "He's lying! I'm Fred THAT'S George." Molly sighed "Oh here I'll fix this," she leaned down and pulled the zipper of one of the twin's jackets down, revealing a sweater with a large F sewn onto it. The other had a large G. "There, now we can tell who's who." George ran up to Hank and held out his hand, pointing to the G on his sweater, "Hullo there I'm Gred and that's Forge." Rogue let out a quick laugh but quickly covered it with a cough. Molly shook her head and turned back to Hank, "Oh those two, any how you wanted to know how to get on the platform? Well watch Arthur, he'll take Bill and Charlie first." Arthur Weasley nodded and maneuvered Bill's luggage rack so it was facing the column between platforms nine and ten. "Grab hold now Bill, and you know what to do!" Bill took the luggage cart and began to push it towards the wall, breaking into a run. Instead of colliding with the seemingly solid surface, he slid through!

Molly nodded, "Okay Charlie, Arthur, you two next and I'll help them through." The same phenomenon took place, and the two Weasleys disappeared through the stone. Molly motioned to Kitty, "You first, best do it at a run if you're nervous." Kitty ran, and to no one's surprise, slid through the stone. She could do that any day of the week, but usually came out the other side, though this time, she didn't. Rogue, Evan, and Kurt all went next, successfully disappearing through the stone. Only Storm, Logan, Professor X, and Hank remained. Molly picked Ginny up and came to Professor X, "Would you mind taking her with you to her father? I can handle Percy and Ron but when you add Fred and George, everything is a challenge." Professor X took the little girl and set her on his lap, where she giggled and pointed to the wall. Professor X drove forward, through the wall, and onto Platform 9 ¾. Storm held out her arms for Ron, "I'll take him if you like." Molly nodded gratefully, "Thank you so much." Hank, Logan, Molly, Percy, Fred and George were now the only ones left. Hank pushed the cart in front of the barrier, and ran into it, leaving Molly and the kids alone with Logan. Molly looked him up and down and seemed to gather that running into the barrier wasn't something he would normally do. She walked towards the barrier, kids in tow, and pointed to it. "If you lean casually against it, you'll go through just the same." He nodded gratefully and watched her demonstrate before doing so himself, sliding through the wall and onto what could only be called a wizarding train station.

It was considerably noisier than an average train station: owls screeching, cats meowing, people hollering to friends and family, and the occasional whistle of the train. Rogue checked her ticket, the time of departure read eleven am. The clock read ten forty-three, so they had time to spare. Mrs. Weasley was fussing over Bill and Charlie, both trying to resist her many hugs and kisses. "Mum stop your embarrassing me in front of my friends! Mum I've got to go!" Bill gave her a quick hug and began making his way to his friends, leaving Charlie at their mother's mercy. "William Arthur Weasley if I get another letter this year saying you've blown off a class you'll have a Howler with your name on it!" She called to his retreating figure.

Arthur leaned against the side of the gleaming red Hogwarts Express. He ran a hand through his thinning hair and turned to Logan who was standing beside him, "So you've been living with muggles this whole time?" He suddenly became very excited, "You flew here! In that aeroplane! How does that work exactly? What keeps it in the air? I've always been fascinated with them." Before Logan could reply, Molly interrupted, "Arthur I hope you're not pestering the poor man with your muggle obsession!" Arthur seemed to shrink slightly, "Well dear, It's not an obsession really, more of a fascination…." Molly narrowed her eyes, "Well," Arthur continued, "What I mean is I was simply asking-" He was saved by the whistle of the train, signaling that the train was about to leave.

The train began to move, slowly making its way out of the station and beginning to pick up speed. Kitty made her way down the slightly crowded aisle to the last compartment. She pushed her suitcase onto the overhead rack and sat down onto the plush red seats. She heard the compartment door open and turned to find Charlie Weasley standing in the doorway. "What to play a round Exploding Snap?" Kitty raised her eyebrows, "Play what?" Charlie sat down across from her and puleed out a pack of cards. "Exploding Snap." He set a card vertically on the table conjured between them, and handed her one. "It's like building a house of cards, but with a challenge." Kitty placed the card next to his, waiting for it to fall but was surprised to see it stay upright. On her fifth card, it exploded. She sat, shocked, wiping the soot off her face while Charlie laughed his head off. Kitty snatched the pack away from him. "Rematch," she stated, and placed a card on the table.

Rogue had walked from the front of the train and back, but hadn't seen any familiar faces (granted she hadn't been trying very hard to look), aside from Bill. He'd given her a wave, which she returned, but as he was sitting with his friends, she'd moved on. The last compartment had been filled with smoke on her first pass of it, so she decided to try again. Kitty and Charlie Weasley were making a card tower, both leaning far back and turning away when placing a new card. Opening the compartment door, Rogue learned why: the card Charlie had placed exploded, sending the cards flying everywhere and filling the small space with more smoke.

Logan looked up from the copy of The Daily Prophet he'd been reading and sniffed. He, Hank, Professor X, and Storm were sitting in the last train car, which had been reserved especially for them. He went to the door and wrenched it open, pulling away coughing and hacking as wisps of smoke escaped into the room. "Logan, are you all right?" Professor X asked. Logan waved the smoke away, peering into the corridor as he did. Rogue was on the ground, half in the compartment and half out, her hair on end and her face covered with soot. Kitty's laughter reached him, and he stepped out to see better. Kitty was sitting on the bench, laughing and clutching a stitch in her side while Charlie picked up the fallen cards, still smiling.

Professor X entered the corridor, "What is going on in here? Where are Kurt and Evan?" Kitty stifled her giggles, "It's a game Professor. And, now you mention it, where are Kurt and Evan?" There was a Crack! and Kurt appeared above them, toppling onto Logan. "Elf!" Kurt sat up, "Oops, sorry Logan." He disappeared with a Crack! and landed next to Kitty. "Whoa! You can apparate? Bill's a third year and he's not allowed to do that! How'd you pass your test early?" Charlie was looking Kurt with wide eyed. The others were looking at Kurt warningly, silently (and in Professor X's case, mentally) telling him not to blow it and reveal his power. Kurt bit his lip and shrugged. Charlie continued, ignoring the awkward pause, "My dad told me about his apparition test. He said he failed four times and splinched his left arm on the fourth try. But on his fifth try he passed. Mom only failed once. I can't wait for mine, but you have to wait until your seventeen. How'd you pass early?" Kurt glanced in the others direction, pleading for help. Professor X cleared his throat, "This apparition, it's normal for you?" he asked Charlie. He nodded, "Bill can't wait for his test, but that's in three years." Professor X put the tips of his fingers together and leaned his chin against them, "Well, Kurt here took this apparition test early, at my recommendation." Before Charlie could reply, Evan came barreling down the corridor on a skateboard. "Evan! I told you not to bring your skateboard!" Storm cried, exasperated. Evan screeched to a stop, "I know Aunty O but it wasn't my fault. A kid was messing around with his wand and turned his shoe into the skateboard and I just- wait no that's not why I came down here! You'll never guess who I saw up near the front of the train!" He looked at all their faces, waiting for them to guess. Before they got a chance to, someone shouted down to Charlie. "Oops, got to go. I'll see you guys later!" he called, and ran down the hall to his friend. Storm turned to Evan and the others, "Let's talk in here." She motioned to the train car she, Logan, Professor X, and Hank had occupied earlier. She closed the door behind them and motioned to the chairs around them. The train car occupied by the adults was not a regular addition to the train, an exclusive to the situation. It was quiet large for such a small looking car, with red carpeting and even a chandelier hanging from a slightly vaulted ceiling. A coffee table sat in the center of the room; Logan's disregarded copy of The Daily Prophet lying half folded on top. There were a set of bookshelves leaning against the wall, several of the books piled on the table where Hank had left them. A large couch sat across from the table, flanked by two arm chairs on either side. The walls were a light tan, and at the far end of the car they curved inward, allowing a small balcony. A large grandfather clock stood in the corner, and a mahogany desk sat several feet behind the coffee table. It was easily the most extravagant room they'd ever seen on a train. In the left alcove sat a grand piano, lid closed. Of all the things…. Kitty thought. Evan tossed the skateboard on the nearest chair, which landed on it and bounced off: it had turned back into a shoe. Professor X steered his wheelchair to the desk, "Who is it you saw Evan?" Evan looked back at him, momentarily forgetting why they'd come in the overly furnished room in the first place. "Oh yeah! I was passing through one of the train cars and there was a really strong breeze but none of the windows were open! So I followed it and when I got to the compartment the breeze had blown into, I saw Pietro and Wanda! And when they saw me, Peitro laughed and told me that he and Wanda had gotten their letters too!"

No one spoke for a full minute. Finally, Professor X broke the silence, speaking directly to Evan, "Did they attack you? Harm, or try to harm, you in any way?" Evan shook his head and they lapsed into silence again. Again, Professor X was the one to break the silence, "I've just spoken(telepathically) to Erik(Magneto). He says Pietro and Wanda are indeed coming on this trip with us." Logan let out a low growl, "What do you recommend Charles?" Professor X sighed and leaned back, "We won't make the first move, or any move for that matter. If they strike the first blow, we will have no choice to retaliate, if, the blow was potentially life threatening. If not, we'll let the authorities handle it." Storm looked confused, "How would the police be any better than us?" Professor X smiled, "Not the police Storm, Albus Dumbledore. He will be, after all, their headmaster. Their fate will be in his hands should something happen." Kitty plopped onto the sofa, pulling out the exploding snap card pack. She waved it at Rogue who was watching, "Want to play?" Rogue sat down next to Kitty and grabbed a card, setting it on the table. Logan sat on the arm of the sofa, watching the card house grow taller and larger. "What exactly is the point of this game?" With a BANG! The cards flew everywhere, and Kitty turned to him, "To not blow the cards up." Logan swiped one of the cards out of the air and turned it over and over in his hand, it looked like a normal card, but normal cards didn't explode unpredictably when you used them. He tossed the card back on the table, singeing it when the card exploded and sniffed the air. "Some one's outside." Hank, who was closest to the door, opened it to reveal an old witch pushing a cart towards them calling out "Anything from the trolley?" to the closest compartments. Several kids came out to buy candy and sweets off the cart, and when they were done, the witch made her way towards the open door. "Anything sweet for you dears?" she asked. Kurt, always game for something sweet, made his way to the cart. The witch looked at the large group, and pushed the cart into the room. "Dumbledore said there'd be special guests on the train. Help yourself dears." Kitty, again feeling guilty that this Dumbledore was giving them free food, tried to give the witch money for the sweets. "Come, come none of that now, I can't accept that. Dumbledore said to make sure your visit was extra special. Of course, going to Hogwarts it can't much more special can it? But we can certainly try!" She gave Kitty a warm smile before departing the room, closing the door behind her. Kitty looked in dismay at the cart load of sweets left behind; it didn't feel right to keep it all. Professor X smiled, "My old friend is certainly making an effort to make his feel welcome." Kurt picked up one of the boxes and tossed it to Kitty, "Cheer up Kitty! There isn't that much left on the cart anyway. Plus, we're the last ones to get the cart so it's not like we're depriving someone of candy!" He opened the pentagon-shaped box to find a small frog. It gave a loud croak and jumped from the box onto the floor and began hopping away from Kurt. "Hey!" Kitty picked up the box while Kurt pounced on the frog, catching it in his hands. "Honeyduke's Chocolate Frog," she read. Kurt held the now solid and unmoving frog by its leg and made a face, "Why would anyone make a chocolate frog?" "I don't know," Evan said, biting the head of one, "It's pretty good." Kurt looked at his curiously, "What does it taste like?" Evan swallowed and answered unhesitatingly, "Chicken." The others laughed, and Rogue grabbed another box off the cart, "'Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans,'" she read. Opening the box, she shook a couple into her waiting hand. "They look like jelly beans!" The door opened again, and this time Jean and Scott entered. "We've been talking to some older students. They told us a lot about Hogwarts and said that we get sorted into houses!" Scott grabbed a couple of the beans from Rogue's hand, "Oh good I'm starved!" He popped a whitish one in his mouth, only to spit it back out. "Yuck! That tasted like soap! What kind of jelly beans are these?" Rogue shook the box in his face, "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans." He took the box and read the back, "'Flavours vary from regular flavors like strawberry and watermelon, to more unusual flavors like curry and pumpkin, and even to flavors such as liver and tripe. A risk with every mouthful!'" Jean laughed as she opened a bag labeled "Drooble's Best Blowing Gum" and popped one in her mouth. "It tastes like blueberries," she said, and blew a bubble. The bubble detached itself from the gum and began to float in front of her. Evan read the back of the package, "'Bubbles can last for days.'"

The rest of the train ride was mostly uneventful, with the younger X-Men daring each other to eat a bean of someone else's choosing, and the others reading or watching. About half-way through the trip, Charlie Weasley came by to tell them that they should probably change into their school robes(and to have a rematch at exploding snap with Kitty, because she had won last time). After changing into the robes he had (reluctantly) bought, Logan, also after having read the wizarding newspaper twice, finally decided to try to read one of the books he'd bought in Diagon Alley. There had been around eleven choices of books about defending against the dark arts, but after seeing that seven of them were written by Gilderoy Lockhart, Logan had brought every single one with his name on it back to Flourish and Blotts, much to the confusion of the manager. He picked up one of the four he'd kept, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and began to read it. If I'm teaching this subject, I have to have an idea of what it is I'm teaching, he thought. Although to Logan, it seemed easier to just fight rather than defend but that was because of his claws, which he was pretty positive the kids he was teaching didn't have.


	4. Chapter 4

When the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade station, it was late in the evening and there was much scrambling to grab their luggage and depart the train. A familiar figure and voice met the X-Men team when they stepped onto the cobblestone platform: Hagrid. "Firs' years, firs' years this way!" he was calling, holding a large lantern in front of him. They pushed their way through the crowd of students and towards Hagrid's large person. He turned to find them all behind him, "You made it! You can leave yer luggage with Filch over there, tha's right." They left their luggage with the man Hagrid had pointed to, Filch, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but standing there. He was scowling at nothing in particular, that increased tenfold when they approached him with their suitcases. Argus Filch was a slightly hunched, extremely unpleasant man with a sunken, pasty face and thinning, greying hair. His eyes were pale, like Mr. Ollivander's, but they bulged slightly and were eerie. He had a shuffling gate, causing his brown coat to flap about his skinny ankles and when he took Kitty's suitcase from her, Logan distinctly heard him mutter, "Damn kids, never a thanks, what I wouldn't give to see the old punishments used again."

Logan decided that he really didn't like this man, especially when his dust colored; scrawny cat appeared at his ankles, her large yellow lamp-like eyes staring up at him with disdain and suspicion. He frowned, and the cat hissed, scratching at his leg. He pulled it out of her reach, only to find Filch standing next to him, scowling. "What do you think you're doing?" The cat slunk over to Filch where he picked her up. "Think it's funny to bother my cat do ya? Not a moments peace in all my years here and now I have nasty children and the professors harassing my cat." Logan clenched his fists, "Watch who you're calling nasty, bub," he growled. Filch sniffed, "Terrible. If I had it my way I'd-" "Alrigh' Filch enough of yer mutterin'. No one wan's to hear about what Hogwarts would be like if you ran it. I can tell you it'd be a livin' hell." Filch grunted and went back to muttering curses under his breath and stacking the luggage. "Sorry 'bout tha'. Not the best of conversationalists, Filch." Hagrid led them to the edge of a lake where several boats, most of them filled with students, sat rocking slightly on the dark water. "Three ter a boat, Professor X there's a carriage waitin' fer ya near the forest over there." He pointed to the darkly outlined forest where several students were still straggling to the carriages that waited to take them to Hogwarts. Storm stepped forward, "Charles," she began but Professor X cut her off, "I'll be fine Storm." Hagrid nodded at the Professor's retreating figure, "Course he will! Like I said before, no safer place than Hogwarts." Logan stepped into one of the boats, followed by Kitty and Kurt. Storm, Jean and Scott were grouped together, with Evan, Hank, and Rogue in their own boat. Logan could see Wanda and Pietro in a boat to the far right, and resisted the urge to extract his claws for what was not the last time. Hagrid stepped into the last (and largest) of the boats and hung his lantern on the pole protruding from it. "All righ' then? Everyone here? Then here we go, _to Hogwarts_." At his command the boats lurched forward, and began cutting through the glassy surface of the Black Lake. Hogwarts wasn't visible quite yet; a few twinkling lights were all they could see. When it did come into view, there was a collective gasp: the picture was _nothing_ compared to the real thing. It was larger than the Institute, and everything the newcomers would expect of a castle. With its many turrets, the largest connected to the Great Hall, the large stone bridge where they could see the dark outlines of carriages being pulled across; it was a truly magnificent and impressive building. How a tiny decrepit ruin, no matter how fake, could hide such an extensive building was beyond comprehension. "It's like a fairytale," Kitty breathed and even Logan had to admit that it was just like he would picture a fairytale castle, if he'd read any fairytales.

The boats slid under a stone arch, through a wall of ivy, and into an underground harbor. Hagrid reached the dock first and pulled himself out of the boat. "All righ' no one fell in did they?" He gave them all a wink and chuckled. "Come on now, follow me." What seemed like an endless staircase stood before them, reaching up the rock face and leading to Hogwarts. Evan's face fell, "Seriously? A school filled with magical beings and we have to climb up a staircase that's at least five miles long?" Hagrid began to trudge up the slope to the bottom of the steps, "Don' worry, s'not too bad." He was right, it was worse. Of all the things to wind him, Logan thought, it was _stairs_. When they finally reached the top, Kurt had thought, at least seventy times, that it would be so much easier to "apparate" to the top. But one slip up was enough in his opinion. Rogue was ready to collapse and Kitty, upon reaching the top, did so panting. Hogwarts loomed before them, its windows twinkling brightly. Hagrid led them through a set of double doors and up, to everyone's dismay, more stairs. A tall, thin, serious looking woman stood at the top of the staircase, her black hair pulled into a tight bun and a green wizard hat perched on her head. She gave a small smile to the kids and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Welcome to Hogwarts. First years, please, through that door and wait for me to come get you for the sorting ceremony." She pointed to a door on their left and the students began to file in, whispering silently to each other. Kitty, Rogue, Evan, Kurt, Jean, and Scott followed suit and gave small waves before disappearing through the door, which shut behind them.

Logan, Storm, and Hank were now alone with the stern looking woman (Hagrid had disappeared) who looked them up and down before introducing herself. "Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress and transfiguration teacher," she said, holding out her hand. Logan hesitated and Hank shook instead, introducing themselves as he did. McGonagall nodded and motioned for them to follow her. "Professor Dumbledore has arranged for a small sorting ceremony, specifically for the four of you to help not only yourselves but the students too. It makes it easier if they know what house their professor is in." They came to a large, ugly statue of a gargoyle that tipped its head when they stopped in front of it. "Password?" it asked. "Lemon drops," McGonagall stated and the gargoyle swung out to reveal a staircase leading upwards. _What_ is _it with this school and staircases? _Logan wondered, and followed McGonagall up them to a large oak door; she knocked. "Enter," a voice said, and they did.

They entered a large circular room that could only be the headmaster's office. It had many windows on all sides, and a great number of portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses. Hank eyed these curiously, why would anyone, of all the poses, want to paint numerous pictures of people sleeping? The room rose up two steps, with a vast number of rounded bookcases crammed with books, and a large desk in the center. Rounded staircases also sat against the right and left walls, leading to an upper level that held what appeared to be a large globe. The lower section they were standing on, had a fireplace to the left, next to several glass cabinets with odd instruments in them. A number of spindly tables covered with delicate looking silver instruments that did all sorts of odd things like whirring or emitting small puffs of smoke were placed in the center of the room. To the right, in between two more large, glass cabinets, sat a cabinet made of wood, the door slightly ajar emitting a strange blue-ish light.

The man sitting at the desk fit the theme of the office perfectly. Dumbledore sat with his fingertips together, staring at them over half-moon spectacles. His long beard went down past his chest, and was a silvery grey, though its original auburn was still visible in some places. His hair was just as long. His nose was crooked, and his eyes were a piercing, blue that twinkled as he looked at them. He wore robes of a deep purple, and when he stood up, they saw stars and moons embroidered onto them. Dumbledore strode past a fiery red bird, and after patting his head, lifted a tattered old hat from the shelf where it sat, and carried it down the few steps as if it were a treasure. It was then that Logan realized they had company. Professor X was there, watching Dumbledore with the hat, but he wasn't the only one. A thin, sallow faced man stood next to him, partially in the shadows, but his face still visible behind a curtain of greasy, black hair. His eyes were dark like Hagrid's but lacked the friendliness his held. He wasn't smiling, and looked ready for a funeral in his black robes. A small wizard, smaller than the children and who Logan guessed was part-goblin, stood next to the sullen man. He wore green robes and had a wrinkled face with wispy white hair that was receding and a wispy mustache and beard. He was holding a little dark green hat, that he plopped back on his head, only to snatch it off again because of the heat of the fire. (Logan couldn't understand why the fire was going when it was still summer.) A kind, motherly looking witch in a red dress and white apron was also present, a white nurse's cap covering her graying hair. Dumbledore had stridden into the middle of the room, and set the hat on one of the tables, and now opened his mouth to speak. "Friends, old and new, I welcome you back to another year at Hogwarts. I'll keep this speech short and simple, as hearing it twice is never as much fun. Before we head to the wonderful feast that's been prepared, I ask that you wait a little longer to properly sort our new staff members into respective houses." He picked up the hat again and looked around at them, "Who would like to go first?"

Professor X drove forward, and Dumbledore set the old hat on his head. Storm didn't understand how a hat was going to do anything, but let out a gasp at what it did. One of the hat's many creases opened much like a mouth, and it began to speak: "I've never sorted a full-grown wizard before, but it shouldn't be too hard. Now let's see, brilliant mind, o yes, no doubt about that. Brave, and kind, but there's something that sticks out. I must say you've done great things, and I believe you'll achieve even more but to help you…. Ravenclaw!" Dumbldore picked the hat up and turned to Storm, who let Dumbledore place it on her head. Again the hat spoke, "Well, well, smart, strong, brave, I'm not surprised I must be honest, a little easier this time: Ravenclaw!" And so the hat sat on Hank's head, and was considerably faster in sorting him, "O very, very kind heart I see. Hmm a little worried about something unwanted surfacing, but I believe you are strong and smart enough to overcome that, in fact I _know_. I must say, Hufflepuff!" Dumbledore brought the hat to Logan, who became nervous: the hat was just running its mouth about whatever it felt needed to be said. What would it say about him? He waited, and the hat spoke, "Well, I can see bravery right off the bat. Strong willed, and quite a troubled past we have. Very fragmented but don't worry that can be fixed. Bravery, definitely nerve, and daring no doubts there, yes I'd have to say, and I haven't been wrong yet: Gryffindor!" Dumbledore lifted the hat off his head and handed it to McGonagall, who, along with a short stool, disappeared out the door to attend to the first years. Dumbledore smiled at them, his eyes twinkling, "Well now, officially part of the Hogwart's family," Logan heard the sallow-faced man give a small sniff, "And now we may go to the feast!"

Kitty was extremely excited for being sorted. She'd heard from Jean and Scott that you were placed based on traits, and though the only house she'd been told was undesirable was Slytherin, she felt that she had the traits of all _but_ Slytherin which made her very happy. Kurt yanked her arm, pulling her up a few inches: in her excitement her feet kept sliding through the floor, and this was the third time Kurt had pulled her out before anyone noticed. Rogue could see Wanda and Pietro standing a little ways away, and with their backs to her, she was shooting daggers at them. Pietro turned and saw her glaring. He weaved through the crowd, and came to her side, running a hand over his white hair. "Look, we've had our feuds in the past, but let's say we start over and try to be civil?" The other X-Men heard him, and turned to see who was talking, not really believing it was he that had said it. Jean stared at him, her mind working furiously to find an ounce of falseness in his words through her telepathy but had no luck. She gave a small shrug to Scott, and sent a thought to their friends: _he's not lying_. Rogue glanced at Jean, who gave a small nod. Rogue held out a gloved hand to Pietro and they shook on it. "I s' pose we can bury the hatchet," Rogue said and Pietro nodded, before slipping back over to Wanda. The door opened and McGonagall motioned for them to follow her, a stool under one arm and a tattered hat in her hand.

Logan and the others had followed Dumbledore and his now fellow professors to the Great Hall where they would feast. Storm was talking to Filius Flitwick, the small wizard who was the Charms professor and head of Ravenclaw house, while the sallow faced man: Severus Snape, Potions Master and head of Slytherin house, walked silently down the hallway, a little bit away from the group. Professor X and Dumbledore were talking cheerily about old times, while Logan walked with the group, but his thoughts as far away as Snape was. The hat had said his memories could be fixed, and so had McGonagall's letter to him. It had said to see Professor Snape for a potion, but how was he supposed to talk to a man he didn't know, nor particularly think he was going to get along with. As though he had read his thoughts (which in truth being a master of Occlumency and Legilemency, the equivalent to telepathy in the wizard world, he probably had), Snape slowed his pace until he was side by side with Logan, before reaching into his robes and pulling out a small vial of a silvery-blue liquid and handing it to him. "This is a memory potion, used to enhance the drinker's memory. Dumbledore told me that your memories needed to be restored, so it has a drop or two of a restoration potion that should help." Logan pocketed the vial in his jeans (which he'd kept on under his robes) and thanked him. Snape gave a curt nod and walked away. Logan decided that for the time being, Snape was not his favorite person, but he still liked him better than Filch.

The Great Hall was an extremely large stone room with a vaulted ceiling that seemed to disappear into the sky (it was bewitched to look that way). Four long, wooden tables sat parallel to each other, benches on either side of them with kids ranging from second to seventh year sitting at them and talking. On a platform sat another long table, reaching from the left side of the room to the right, and had chairs for each of the staff members. A large golden chair sat in the middle where Dumbledore was seated. A pedestal sat in front of the staff table with a golden owl on the front. McGonagall came in through the front doors, first years trailing behind her. When she reached the platform where the staff table sat, she set the stool down with the sorting hat on top. They waited; no one spoke as they watched the hat. It opened the fold near the brim, but instead of speaking, it began to sing.

_Greetings to the young and old,_

_The thick and the thin._

_I'm the sorting hat who's told_

_Where you'll fit in._

_I'm sitting here_

_After all these years_

_I've become quite patched and frayed._

_But I still sing and I still talk cause I was wonderfully made._

_By the greatest magics of our time_

_Who now have gone to rot._

_And I'm here to sing this rhyme_

_And do what they forgot:_

_To sort you in the house I choose_

_And out of what I don't._

_I say to you I never loose!_

_And I probably won't_

_I'll look inside your heart and soul_

_And mostly in your mind._

_To find the things that play key roles:_

_Hufflepuff if your kind_

_Brave and true to Gryffindor_

_To Ravenclaw the wisest under the sky_

_And still I say there is one more:_

_Slytherin the cunning and the sly._

_To sort you out_

_That is my job and I'll never tire._

_And where I pick without a doubt_

_Is where your fates transpire._

There was a round of applause as the hat finished, and McGonagall pulled a list out of her robe. "Now when I call your name, come up and sit on the stool." She looked down at the list, "Acre, Jacob." A blond boy climbed up the steps and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on his head, and it began to analyze him, finding the traits that would define the house he was suited for. Logan wasn't paying attention, he was too busy trying to listen to the whispered conversation between Professor X and Dumbledore, "Oh yes," he heard Dumbledore say, "Not four years ago I celebrated a century of existence." He chuckled, "Of course I received quite a few books, but not nearly enough candy. Only Minerva seemed to remember my regard for lemon drops." Logan refrained from rolling his eyes: how the serious Professor X had ever become friends with such an eccentric man as Dumbledore was a mystery. It did interest him to learn Dumbledore's age; if his hundredth birthday had been less than four years ago, he was just about one hundred and four! Of course, this was not so unusual: Logan was over a hundred as well, though how far over he didn't know. World War II was pretty clear but before that, it was all a little fuzzy. He fingered the vial Snape had given him in his pocket. He wasn't sure how to take it: did he just drink it or should he put it in something?

"Daniels, Evan," McGonagall said, pulling Logan back to the real world. Storm leaned forward a little in her seat, curious if her nephew would be put in the same house as her. The hat seemed to be taking its time, "Well I can say this is quite puzzling. You are related to someone I've placed in Ravenclaw," Storm blushed slightly at her being mentioned, "But there is something about that is different. I can see brains, quite smart, but not used to their potential." Logan snorted: the hat was spot on. Finally, it seemed to have reached a decision, "I think that you'd do well in Hufflepuff, but that's not the best place for you, no. Let's see, GRYFFINDOR!" The scarlet and gold table erupted in clapping and shouting, welcoming their newest member. Storm settled back into her seat and let out a sigh. Logan was perfectly happy to go back to his thoughts, but the next name to be sorted was one he just couldn't allow himself to ignore. "Darkholme, Anna-Marie." Rogue stepped onto the platform and sat on the stool, biting her lip out of nerves. Logan wished he could tell her it was okay, but he couldn't so he just watched. The hat had a hard time sorting her, and only the X-Men knew why: when Rogue came in skin-contact with someone, she absorbed their powers and memories, and most of them hung around. It was probably hard for the hat to find who was Rogue and who wasn't. "My my, quite a jumble here; now let's see, the _true_ you is, hmm, brave, and daring. Little bit of nerve in there." Logan listened to the hat, recognizing the traits it was finding as the same ones it had described him with. He was not surprised, more pleased, when it called out her house: "GRYFFINDOR!" Logan clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindors, watching as Rogue sat down next to Evan. "Two down, Six to go," he muttered to himself, watching as Edson, Sara was sorted into Hufflepuff.

The next couple kids passed quickly, and when Jean was called she was sorted into Ravenclaw, causing the middle right table of blue and bronze to cheer. Kitty listened to each name being called, counting down the letters of the alphabet as Professor moved to each new one. Her heart began to race when McGonagall came to the "M" names: they weren't that far away from her last name, Pryde. She watched with apprehension as Pietro and Wanda Maximoff were both sorted in to Slytherin, and before she knew it McGonagall was calling, "Pryde, Kitty," and she was walking up the stairs and settling on the stool. The hat felt oddly light for something that could talk, but she supposed that was _because_ it was a hat. "Well, right away I can see you're a kind soul, always ready to help others. I see you've helped more than one person who was lost. I can see your life is one that requires tolerance and patience, but also hard work and dedication, all which you possess. I think the best house for you would be HUFFLEPUFF!" Kitty let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, and made her way to the black and yellow table. Logan watched as Kitty became a Hufflepuff, and saw that there were very few kids left to be sorted; less than ten kids remained. Among them were Scott, Kurt, and Charlie Weasley. Hank, who was separated from Dumbledore by McGonagall's vacant seat, watched with interest as Statin, Lucy was sorted into Ravenclaw, still trying to figure out how such a tattered old hat could know so much. He thought of what it had said, "_O very, very kind heart I see. Hmm a little worried about something unwanted surfacing, but I believe you are strong and smart enough to overcome that, in fact I_ know_." _He pondered this: could the hat be right? Could he really control his beast form? Fully? The letter sent by McGonagall had said she could help, so maybe it was possible. He rubbed his wrist where a image inducer sat, covering his true beast form. He sighed, it was worth asking.

Scott heard his name called as though from far away and made his way to the stool and the hat. No sooner had the hat hit his head when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" It was the fastest sorting yet. Scott walked in a happy daze toward the cheering table and sat down next to Rogue, "Good, I'm glad you're here or I'd have been stuck with Spyke here," she said, giving him a small smile. Scott smiled back and turned to the Ravenclaw table, slightly bummed he wasn't with Jean but happy with where he was put just the same. With Scott being the last "S" surname, they moved onto "T's" and after "Nymphadora, Tonks" became a Hufflepuff, the only two left were Kurt and Charlie. Kurt, with his last name being "Wagner" went first and was sorted into Hufflepuff as well, while Charlie became a Gryffindor with the hat saying, "I know you're not the first Weasley, and I don't doubt you'll be the last." Finally, all first years were sorted, the hat fell silent, and McGonagall made her way to her seat next to Dumbledore, who had risen and waited for silence. "Good evening! Another wonderful year at Hogwarts has begun; to our new students: welcome. To our older students: welcome back! First off, I would like to remind all students the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden. Also, Mr. Filch our beloved caretaker," Logan snorted which earned him a kick in the shin from Storm, "Has asked me to remind you of the list of banned items, posted near his office. Now, we have several important announcements, but before I get to those, everyone stand for the singing of the school song!" He flicked his wand and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, twisting into words. "All right, pick a tune, and here we go!"

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald,_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling,_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot._

It was quite possibly the most out of tune, off pace; disconnected singing the X-Men had ever heard. But in its own way, the school's enthusiasm was infectious, and Logan was surprised to hear himself singing along, rather badly, but singing just the same. _That's the spirit Logan, _Professor X thought. Logan turned to him and smirked, _I never thought I'd sing anything like that. Now once did it cross my mind and you only live once right? _Professor X smiled joined in the clapping before turning to Dumbledore again, "Music, a magic beyond all we do here. Now, first order of business is some staff changes. Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, has taken ill. Professor Storm Munroe will be taking over in her absence. Also, Professor Kettleburn has recently lost his arm during a dragon mishap in Romania, and we are fortunate to have Professor Hank McCoy to fill in, who will also be the new Head of Hufflepuff house in Professor Sprout's absence. Lastly, our Defense Against the Dark Arts post has opened, and Professor Logan Howlett will be taking over. I hope you give them the utmost respect. Now, this year we have a visitor, Professor Charles Xavier, who will be staying with us for the year. Before we start the feast I have just a few words to say: Tuck in!"

Almost immediately, the tables became filled with a vast assortment of food: roast beef, chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, peas, carrots, and much more. Several different types of drinks appeared as well: pumpkin juice, gillywater, tea, water, and cherry syrup. Logan was disappointed: he'd hoped for more firewhisky. Professor Flitwick, who was passing him on his way to Dumbledore, heard his grumbling complaints to Storm and leaned forward, pointing his wand at Logan's cup and filling it with firewhisky. "One of the most useful spells I've ever learned," he squeaked. Logan thanked him and began piling food on his plate. As he dug his teeth into a chicken leg, tearing some of the meat off, Storm gave a sniff of disgust. He turned to her and rolled his eyes, before pointing to Hagrid with his chicken leg, "It's not any worse than him." Hagrid was eating an entire chicken, and seemed to have discarded his silverware as well. Storm returned the eye roll and continued eating. When the first course was finished, it disappeared and was replaced with dessert. Dessert consisted of assorted ice cream, apple and lemon meringue pie, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, and rice pudding. It was safe to say all of the X-Men fully appreciated it: dessert at the mansion was usually store-bought cookies or ice cream. At last the feast ended, and Dumbledore dismissed them to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Logan lay on his bed, still dressed, twirling his wand around and around in his hand. There was a knock at his door, and when he opened it he found Storm standing outside it. "Can I help you?" he asked. She bit her lip, "Logan, I was wondering what you were planning to do for your first lesson." He shrugged and she continued, "Well I was worried that I wouldn't be able to teach anything; I don't know how to use my wand very well." Logan looked down at his own and shrugged again, "I wouldn't sweat it Storm, the first lessons are supposed to be kind of dull. By the time you have interesting lessons, you'll have gotten used to the wand." She raised an eyebrow, "I would have that you of all people would have just tossed the wand and relied on your instincts; although, you are teaching children how to survive where as I'm teaching them about mandrakes and venomous tentacula." He stared at her, "What?" She shook her head, "Never mind." Logan leaned against the doorway and began to spin the wand in his hand again, "I don't know I've become rather attached to the thing." He clenched his right hand, extracting his adomantium claws, "Perhaps I'll sub it for one of these." Storm laughed, "Okay Logan, I just wanted to know your opinion of what I should do. Thanks." She turned to go, "Good night Logan." "Night."

The next morning, it took Logan a minute to figure out where he was. Then he remembered: Hogwarts castle, somewhere in Scotland. He groaned and rolled over, trying to block out the sunlight streaming in through the window. The digital clock he usually had was flashing the words "overload" which he didn't know the clock could do. He pulled out his cell phone and found that it wasn't working either, but whether that was for the same reason his clock wasn't or because he'd stuck his claws through the screen at least four times, he didn't know. He groaned again and flopped back onto his pillow, hoping it wasn't time to get up yet.

Kurt and Hank both found a similar problem: their image inducers weren't working, which meant that they were both blue and a lot more hairy than their "normal" selves. Fortunately for Hank, he was in a separate room though Kurt wasn't so lucky: he was in a dormitory with three other boys. Kurt stared at his blue arm for a good five minutes, trying to figure out if his eyes were working or not. When he had deduced that they were, he teleported to the first person he could think of. He landed with a slight thump on their bed, which unfortunately had the person in it who wasn't very happy at being crushed by Kurt. "ELF!" Logan yelled and sat up so fast he knocked Kurt off the bed. "Oops, sorry Logan; but my image inducer isn't working! Look!" Logan didn't have to look to know that Kurt was blue with a tail. He again flopped onto his pillow, this time covering his head with it. "Then go tell the person who can FIX it, not me," was his slightly muffled reply. Kurt teleported out of Logan's room and into the hallway, but unfortunately it was not the hallway he needed to be in. He was about to teleport directly into the Professor's room but was found by Dumbledore. He smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Mr. Wagner? I see you've found one of the enchantments of Hogwarts: electronics don't work. Although I was able to allow them to work for a short time last night, an old wizard such as myself can only do so much. Not to worry I have a solution for you and Mr. McCoy." He began to walk down the hallway and Kurt followed until they reached his office and at the password, still lemon drops, and walked up the spiraling staircase. Mr. McCoy was there as well, just as blue as Kurt. Dumbledore closed the door behind him and motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk. They sat down, and Dumbledore handed them each a cup filled with disgusting looking potion. "This, is polyjuice potion. Once drunk you will assume the appearance of whoever's hair happens to be added to it." Kurt made a face, "Hair?" Dumbldore nodded, smiling, "Yes, hair. Now you'll have to drink it every hour in order to keep the effects from wearing off, however, if you wish to stay as you are, I'm sure no one would see you any differently." Kurt stared at the bubbling concoction, torn between drinking it and not. _Every_ hour? That was really often and he wouldn't be able to drink it in his sleep. He was worried if he didn't take it, people would laugh. Kurt felt Dumbldore's gaze on him and looked up into those clear blue eyes. He gulped and set the cup down on his desk. "If it's all the same to you Professor Dumbledore sir, I think I'll stay myself. After all, everybody digs the fuzzy dude!" Dumbledore chuckled, "I thought so. What about you Hank?" Hank too, had put down his glass, "If the X-Men kids can accept me for who I am, the others will. 'This above all; to thine own self be true.'" Dumbledore nodded, "Spoken true. Shakespeare I believe? If not for the witch burnings in that time, we would have more witches and wizards who know of him." He leaned back in his chair continuing to stare at them over his half-moon spectacles. "Perhaps you will be able to teach them." Hank nodded and Dumbledore stood up, "I believe it is time for breakfast. Shall we?" He motioned to the door and the three left for the Great Hall.

Logan tugged on his robe, trying for five minutes to get it on before realizing he was trying to fit his left arm in the right arm-hole. He quickly fixed it and left his room, pulling his shoe on as he went. It took him several minutes to reach the Great Hall but when he did he found he was one of the first (or last) people there. After a quick breakfast consisting of toast, eggs, and a muffin, he left the Great Hall, following the instructions McGonagall had told him to get to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, kicking himself for not trying to find it the night before. He was about half-way there when he came to the unfortunate conclusion that he had left his wand in his room and, despite what he told Storm last night, he was keen to know how to use it, which he couldn't do if he didn't even _have_ it. Grumbling under his breath, he doubled back, only to find that the corridor he'd come through earlier was gone, and in its place a wall. He did however, overcome this obstacle when, in his rage, he kicked the wall and his foot slid through it. The corridor had become bored and decided to be a wall instead. Logan found this was not the _only_ wall, or door, that liked pretending to be something it wasn't, which was rather confusing. He found his room, and grabbing his wand quickly off the desk, began the trek back up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. _This is going to be a_ long _day_.

Storm made her way to the greenhouses, and went inside Greenhouse One: the one used for first years. She looked through one of the books she'd bought about Herbology, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, _the required book for first years. She decided that until she was really able to use her wand, she'd simply teach them about plants, avoiding magical spells. She flipped through the pages and stopped at the shrivelfig. _This looks easy enough to teach, and no magic to be used either_, she thought, smiling to herself.

Kurt was worried that he'd made the wrong decision, especially when one of his dorm mates came and sat down next to him, giving a soft whistle. _Here it comes_; he braced himself for the insults and laughter. The boy just looked at him, slight awe on his face, "Is that what you really look like?" Kurt nodded slowly. "Wow!" the boy continued, "That's cool! Like a blue devil or a monkey!" The boy pointed to his tail, "Is that real?" Kurt nodded again, and the boy became even more excited. Kurt found himself smiling as another boy came over to tell him how cool he looked: he definitely didn't regret his decision.

Kitty plopped down next to Kurt, fully blue, tail and all. "Kurt," she whispered, "What are you doing?" Kurt turned to her and smiled, "Dumbledore told me to be myself and people would like me. It worked! No one is teasing us like at home!" Kitty smiled and bit her muffin; she spotted Mr. McCoy, also blue and hairy, at the staff table smiling and talking to Professor Flitwick. She didn't regret coming to this school at all.

Logan had gotten lost three times, and was pretty sure he was on the opposite side of the school from where he needed to be. He finally cracked when a door, pretending to be a painting, refused to open. He grew exasperated and after scaring a couple of first years with his yells of how he couldn't find his way around this damn school without a map, sat down in front of the door-painting. "Excuse me good sir!" Logan turned, the first years were gone and there was no one else in the halls. "Sir!" he turned to find the painting of the knight and his fat grey pony next to him was talking to him. "Um, me?" the knight nodded, his helmet lid bobbing up and down, "Sir Cadogan at your service! Are you lost?" Logan stood up, "Yeah, mind telling me where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is?" Sir Cadogan brandished his sword and the proceeded to fall backwards with its weight. "Of course good sir! Follow me!"

After a full day of getting lost and making lesson plans, Logan made his way downstairs after dinner, on the pretense of checking on Storm, who hadn't been seen since that morning. He knocked on her door and entered, "Storm? Are you in here?" He looked around at the empty room and turned to go, "Logan! Is that you?" He turned, looking for the source of his name but saw no one. "Up here!" he looked up and saw Storm, floating up near the ceiling, her arms crossed. He stifled a laugh but still managed to let out a snort, "What are you doing?" "I'm just, um," "Hanging around?" Logan asked. "Yeah, just-wait, no I was just-I'm fixing the light bulbs in this chandelier." Logan raised an eyebrow: the chandelier had candles he could visibly see. He shrugged, "Ok then," and turned to leave. "Wait! Wait, Logan, I'm stuck." He turned back around and leaned against the bedpost, "Really?" he asked sarcastically. Storm rolled her eyes, "Ok yes I'm stuck, I admit it. I was trying to learn to use my wand but I got stuck up here and can't get down. Now will you help me?" Logan flipped through the pages of the book she'd gotten the spell from. He cleared his throat and pointed his wand at her, "Descendio!" Storm rose upward rather quickly, smacking her head on the ceiling, "Try again maybe you're not saying it right!" He looked at the spell again, "Descendo!" This time it worked and Storm descended, though it was rather fast and Logan barely caught her before she hit the stone floor. She stood up, her hair in front of her face. "Some help you were." Logan turned to leave the room, "I could have left you there."

That night after dinner, the X-Men met in Professor X's room. They had agreed to meet to tell about their first day in a school of magic. Kitty was rambling on about the things she'd learned(though they hadn't even had real lessons yet as it was Sunday), and was showing them the spell she'd learned from her Charms book. "And you have to get the wand motion just right: swish and flick. Wingardium Leviosa!" The book she was pointing at rose several inches in the air. She squealed with joy, "I was only able to lift a feather this morning!" Logan looked to Storm, mouthing the word "fail" which unfortunately, Kitty noticed. "Hey, Storm that reminds me, we didn't see you today. Well Kurt and I don't have you until tomorrow anyways but-" "But Scott and I didn't see you when we went to the greenhouses," Rogue finished. Storm widened her eyes slightly, and her gaze darted to Logan, pleading for help. He pushed off the wall, "Something came up." Storm narrowed her eyes at his clever way of not telling them what happened, "Yeah, _up_." Before anyone could ask her to elaborate, Kurt began to tell them about the History of Magic class: "Professor Binns is a ghost! He came right through the blackboard when we found the classroom. It was amazing!" Professor X chuckled, smiling, "Well it sounds like you've all had an interesting day. Now I don't know if you've heard but this Wednesday will be your first flying lesson." Kitty jumped up from the chair she'd been sitting in and did a little dance, squealing happily. Professor X smiled again and continued, "Although first years aren't allowed to try-out for Quidditch this year, you can always practice." Kitty stopped dancing, "Quidditch?" Hank, who had been silent the whole time spoke up, "I heard from several of the students that 'Quidditch' is a sport in which you fly on brooms. There is a match sometime in November I believe." Kurt teleported and landed on the couch next to Storm, "But we can't play?" Hank shook his head, "From what I've heard, it's just as exciting watching the match as it is playing." Professor X smiled at the others, "I know you must be tired from today, but I have one last thing to say: Professor Dumbledore asked us all to be at breakfast _on time_ tomorrow, he has an announcement. But for now everyone would do well to get some sleep." Everyone left the Professor's room, talking about the announcement as they headed towards their house common rooms. Hank went with them: as temporary head of Hufflepuff he had the privilege of staying in a room closest to the Hufflepuffs. Professor X bid Storm and Logan goodnight, who retired to their respective rooms. Logan lay awake for a while, contemplating the announcement Dumbledore was going to make. Had the X-Men overstayed their welcome already?


	6. Chapter 6

Logan had stopped thinking about Dumbledore's announcement a long time ago. He was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling and counting the nonexistent pens stuck in it. He often liked to pass the time this way at the Institute, because the only way to vent his anger in a nonvisible way was to, sometimes, stab the ceiling with pens the place never-seemed-to-run-out-of. Suffice to say, whenever he thought about his lost past, this usually happened. Now he thought about it, it happened a lot. At that moment, he wished there were pens in his room, because he was thinking about his past now. It frustrated him to no end: he couldn't remember anything and what he could wasn't happy nor clear. He did remember the vial the Snape had given him: the one with the memory-restorative potion. He sat up and saw his discarded robes on the chair by the window, and decided that the quickest way to get it was to use his wand, thereby also getting some practice with it. Grumbling and rubbing his head fifteen minutes later, he finally managed to get the vial out of his pocket and within close proximity of his hand. He just stretched the remaining three feet: no use injuring himself further. The liquid was clear-or was it blue? – and looked as if it were boiling, though the vial was quite cool. He was still not sure whether to drink it straight up or in something. He finally decided with the first option, and hoping it wouldn't kill him, drank it all. He closed his eyes for a minute, keeping his dinner down while swallowing the disgusting concoction. After a few seconds, he deduced that he had finally found something that tasted worse than the "muffins" Kitty had baked. He'd opened his eyes again, but the sudden rush of memories that hit him made him close them again. Vaguely, in the flood of images, he remembered something about being allowed to use a "Pensieve" to sort out his newly restored memories. So, not the first time and certainly not the last, he disregarded the time and went in search of the person who could provide him this "Pensieve."

"They need a map or something. This is getting old," Logan was lost, _again_. He'd been aiming for Dumbledore's office, but had ended up, twice, in front of an empty Great Hall. As if that wasn't bad enough, he was reminded, a little embarrassed, that he was still in his pajamas: a white no-sleeve t-shirt and light greenish-grey sweatpants. He really hadn't thought this through as much as he would have liked to think he did. His night- or rather morning – was made one step worse by the arrival of Filch's stupid cat, Mrs. Norris, who looked at him as if he was doing something wrong. "I'm allowed to be up!" he found himself yelling at her; she meowed and walked away, presumably to find her irritating master, who Logan wasn't too keen on seeing at the moment. He wasn't halfway up a staircase when it started moving, catching him off guard and causing him to sink his claws into the banister. "Oooo vandalizing the stairs are we? We'll see what the headmaster has to say about that." The staircase had exhausted its moving and Logan looked up. At first he saw nothing, but appearing in a very Cheshire-Cat like way, a little man sat floating above him, grinning hugely. The man was dressed in loud, unusual clothes, complete with a bell-covered hat and an orange bow tie. He had black hair and was smiling at Logan like he'd just won the lottery. "What do you want?" Logan growled. The man tittered, "Oh not nice is we? Well then I think I'll have to tell the headmaster. Oh positively." Logan rolled his eyes and continued up the stairs, but found his thoughts again interrupted by the infuriating little man. He was now floating upside down. "What are we doing out of bed? I should call Filch I should. Student out of bed-" "I'm not a student bub," Logan continued up the stairs, this time making it to the landing, "And what are you?" Normally he would have thought this question rude but he didn't this time: the little man really was infuriating. "Peeves the poltergeist, at your service," Peeves said mockingly. Logan gave a small sigh: a poltergeist? He'd never leave. "I'm a teacher bub, so watch what you say." Unfortunately, as Logan learned later, Peeves didn't care who you were. The only ones he respected were The Bloody Baron (a ghost of Slytherin) and Dumbledore. Peeves cackled, "A professor huh? Well, let me give you a proper greeting!" Seemingly from nowhere, Peeves pulled out several ink bottles and proceeded to empty them on Logan's head. Logan swung wide, his claws barely missing Peeves who just cackled again and zoomed away shouting, "Cranky Claws! Cranky Claws!" Logan groaned and wiped the ink dripping off his face: he would never hear the end of this.

Light was beginning to pour in the windows and Logan decided to ask about the Pensieve later. He made his way slowly back to his room, still wiping ink off his face and muttering under his breath. He was delayed again, but he wasn't lost this time: he walked into someone. "Sorry," he muttered, hoping it wasn't Filch because although he was irritated he didn't think that was a sufficient reason for cutting someone to shreds. Luckily, or perhaps not, it was McGonagall. She was wearing a tartan dressing gown, holding her lit-up wand in her hand. She raised an eyebrow: "What in the name of Merlin happened to you?" Logan took the towel she'd conjured up, wiping the ever present ink off his hair and face. "That poltergeist-" "Peeves?" Logan nodded and McGonagall gave an exasperated sigh, "He came with the castle." Logan was puzzled but assumed that meant he'd been here forever and wasn't leaving. McGonagall conjured up another towel and handed it to him, "I suggest you get cleaned up," she pointed to the window, "It's almost morning. Now if you'll excuse me." She pat his shoulder and walked briskly down the hall and around the corner. When Logan did find his way back to his room, he was tired and really just wanted to catch up on the sleep he hadn't gotten, but his head was too filled with recovered memories and ink was still dripping down his face. He sighed and headed to the bath: it wasn't the first time he'd lost a whole night's sleep.

Kitty was practically bouncing in her seat she was so excited. Dumbledore's announcement was all that was on her mind; that, and flying lessons this Wednesday. It was only Monday, and the first day of lessons. Sunday had really just been a day to help the first years familiarize themselves with the school, something the new professors were happy to have had as well. Kitty had finished eating ten minutes ago, and was reading one of her Charms books but was too excited to really concentrate. Finally, Dumbledore finished eating, the food disappeared, and he stood up arms spread wide and waiting for attention. It didn't take long and everyone turned to look at him: "This Wednesday, the first years will have their first flying lesson. The time will be noted on your message boards. Also, our first Quidditch match of the season is coming up in November, and you should see your team captain for the trial dates however first years be aware that you are not allowed to try out. Speaking of the Quidditch match, it seems our commentator from last year has graduated and therefore, we need a new one. If you're interested, please see your head of house for details. Now, off you go! You don't want to be late for your first lesson!" Logan stood up along with everyone else, "Yeah, I don't want to be late but somehow, that keeps happening." He exited the Great Hall, focusing on not getting lost, and spotted someone he thought he knew. "X-23," he said it louder than he thought he had, and the girl whipped her brown hair around, her green eyes narrowing as she scanned the oppositely moving crowd. Their eyes locked, and the glint of metal in between her knuckles disappeared as her suspicion went out the window, her eyes widening in surprise. She pushed against the thinning crowd, running the extra couple of feet to Logan. She stared up at him, the suspicion back, but there was no hiding her apparent pleasure at him being there. He stared back, trying to figure out how he hadn't seen her until now: she wasn't a first year, he didn't hear her name called, though now he thought of it "X-23" could hardly be what they called her. She tilted her head to the side and smirked, "Didn't think I'd ever see you again." He snorted, "Didn't think you'd be the type to come to a school like, _this_." He motioned around them and she laughed. Before they could continue their conversation, Filch and his cat swept up behind them, scowling and muttering, "Standing around in the halls, just cleaned 'em, never a thank you-" X-23 rolled her eyes, "Can it." Mrs. Norris hissed, arching her back and letting out a low growl. X-23 stuck her tongue out at her, the claw in her right foot shooting out to poke the cat, scaring her and causing her to streak down the hallway, Filch following and complaining about disrespect to his cat. She rolled her eyes again, "I hate that cat. And him," she added thoughtfully. Logan put a hand on her head, ruffling her hair slightly, "Sure are my clone." She smirked and started up the stairs, "I have Transfiguration now so-" Logan caught up to her, cutting her off, "Do you know how to get to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom?"

It was only the second day, and Logan had, miraculously, arrived late to his class, again, although this time he was teaching. And unlike last time, it wasn't because he was lost, he was sidetracked: it wasn't every day you found your clone you thought was gone. When he entered he found several students, including Kitty, Kurt, and Jean, staring at him in bewilderment. He walked to the front of the room and turned to face them, "So I'm late. So what?" he snapped. No one said anything and he continued, his tone a little softer, "Now I don't want to hear any of this 'Professor' stuff; call me Logan or Mr. Logan. So, Defense Against the Dark Arts. To be honest, I don't really know what it is you're really defending against, and I don't see why you can't just punch them in the gut but I'm going to teach you this stuff anyway. First, who here has heard of Pixies?" The lesson went fairly well, and Logan managed to make the lesson somewhat interesting, and seemed to have earned a good spot with the students when it came time for homework. "Well it says here that giving you homework is a good way to get you to remember the stuff," he said as he read the advice McGonagall had written for him, "But then again why assign something I don't want to grade?" There was a cheer from the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and then the bell rang, signaling the start of second period. _This isn't so hard_, he thought. At the end of the lesson, Logan felt he _might_ have been able to teach them _something_. Which was reassuring; sort of. He'd also had time to check his second year roster, and confirmed his belief that X-23 was going by the name her 'mother' had given her: Laura Kinney.

If Kitty didn't get to her flying lesson soon she was going to explode. Not that she was late, no Kitty was still at breakfast and classes hadn't even started on Wednesday, but she was so eager to go she couldn't eat. Kurt looked up from his over filled plate, " Ki'y 'ou nee' to ea'" Kitty turned her attention to him, "Eww Kurt don't talk with your mouth full that's disgusting!" Kurt swallowed, "Sorry Kitty. I said you need to eat." Kitty shook her head, "I'm too excited to eat you know? I mean we get to fly today!" Kurt looked down at his plate full of food, hungrily, "No. I don't know." Kitty rolled her eyes: all Kurt had on his mind now was food. She turned in her seat, _I could go talk to Rogue, or Scott, or Jean._ Her eyes glanced to the staff table, _or….._

Logan had asked Hagrid to pass the sausages at least five times and he hadn't. They weren't that far out of his reach to begin with but if he just casually snagged one with his claw… He glanced at Storm next to him: if she saw him he was done for. Luckily, she wasn't paying attention. _Perfect, _he reached forward and speared one of the sausages with his claw and was just pulling his hand back when someone said his name. "Hey Mr. Logan. Aren't you excited for flying lessons? I am. Do you get to fly? Are you gonna watch us?" He turned to the source of the voice and found Kitty's head sitting on his plate; or rather _through_ it. He jumped backwards, startled and not only fell out of his chair, spilling pumpkin juice on himself, but Storm saw him. "Logan!" she hissed, "Put. Your. Claws. _Away_!" he retracted them, still on the ground, and sat up, well aware that several kids were staring at him. "What are they staring at me for. I'm not the one with my head in a plate," he grumbled. Kitty had slid out of the table and was now sitting on his chair. "Sorry Mr. Logan. So anyway aren't you excited for the flying lessons today?" Logan sighed, "If I say yes will you leave?" he growled. Before Kitty could reply, the bell rang and she hopped of his chair. "Gotta run! See you at the flying lessons!" He watched her go, along with the last few minutes he'd had to eat breakfast.

Rogue was sitting at the Gryffindor table, giggling as Logan picked himself up and wiped the pumpkin juice off his face. Scott, who was next to her, stood up, "You coming Rogue?" She stood up, following him out of the Great Hall. "Yeh, what class do we have now?" Scott looked at his timetable, "I have Potions." Rogue looked at her own timetable, "Yeh me too, with the Hufflepuffs. That means we'll be with Kitty and Kurt." Scott nodded and they made their way down to the dark dungeons that held the Potions classroom. Kurt and Kitty were already there, talking excitedly. The room was buzzing with excitement, until the professor entered. Rogue had seen pretty clearly that Logan hadn't been fond of Professor Snape, and after Monday, she'd known why. He scowled and narrowed his eyes as he spoke to them, yelling at Kitty for taking notes and bringing her close to tears. (If it hadn't been for the fact that she didn't want the greasy-haired professor's memories or traits in her, she would have knocked him out cold.) Rogue's first impression of him hadn't improved as the lesson wore on, and after checking her timetable twice, couldn't have been happier when the last five minutes rolled around. Today, Wednesday, was no better. He had them copy notes, and made a show of telling Kitty that _now _she could copy notes and making Rogue dislike him even more. At least she had Ororo next: a familiar face would be nice, even if that face was teaching you and would probably assign homework.

Logan was on his way to lunch, and then to the flying lessons, when Professor Snape stopped him in the hallway. "The headmaster requests your presence." Logan pushed past him, "Sorry Thor I'm on my way to lunch." Snape had turned a sickly color when Logan called him Thor, presuming it as an insult. (Which, coming from Logan, it probably was.) He stepped in front of Logan again, blocking his path. Logan rolled his eyes, "I'll get there in my own good time bub." Snape glared at him, "He asks that you come now." Logan snarled but refrained from tearing him to shreds. "Fine."

Although Logan had agreed to go to the headmaster, he had planned on turning the corner and continuing to the Great Hall. He had not planned on Snape stalking, he would have called it escorting, him to the headmaster's office. He glanced at the gargoyle standing guard before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. Snape scowled, _the only facial expression he knows how to make_ Logan thought, and waved to the gargoyle. "Well?" Logan raised an eyebrow, "What?" Snape narrowed his eyes, "Are you going to go in?" he snapped. Logan shrugged, "Don't know the password." He could see Snape clench his jaw, "Lemon drops," he hissed. The gargoyle leapt aside, exposing the spiral staircase beyond. Logan pushed off the wall and climbed the stairs, irritatingly aware that Snape followed him, yet again. He knocked and entered, barely stopping himself from slamming the door in Snape's face. Dumbledore didn't look up from what he was writing but waved his hand twice, conjuring up two plush armchairs. Logan sank into one of them, smirking as he watched Snape almost painfully follow suit. "Well, if it isn't that good for nothing great-great-grandson of mine." Logan looked up at the source of the voice: a painting of a clever looking man with black hair, dark eyes, a pointed beard and thin eyebrows. He wore silver and green robes and Logan assumed that meant he was from Slytherin. The man scowled at him, "You lousy piece of Black. I-" "Phineas I would ask you not to insult our guest," Dumbledore said, still not looking up. Phineas sniffed, "His existence is an insult. When I was headmaster-" "Phineas you should know that Sirius is in Azkaban." Logan glanced to the portrait of the old headmaster whose eyes had widened. "What's Azkaban?" Phineas scoffed, "Don't know what Azkaban is? Bet you're a mudblood aren't you? Of course you wouldn't know." The lady next to Phineas gasped, "Phineas how dare you use that word!" She turned to Logan and smiled kindly, "Azkaban is the magic prison for terrible witches and wizards." Logan raised an eyebrow, "And what did this Sirius do to get himself in there?" The witch in the portrait, Dilys Derwent, sighed, "He was such a good student! A troublemaker yes but we didn't think he was capable of doing something so terrible!" Another portrait, Armondo Dippet, nodded. "But what did he do?" Logan asked again. Dippet gulped, "He blasted an entire street apart! It-it killed twelve muggles and Sirius' own friend, Peter Pettigrew!" "And if that wasn't enough he betrayed Lily and James Potter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" Dilys Derwent added, slightly teary-eyed. Logan nodded: murder tended to get you imprisoned. Dumbledore finally looked up, aware of the drastic change in conversation as well as Snape's increasingly paling expression. This didn't go unnoticed by Logan either. He was aware that not only was Snape clenching his jaw, but if he gripped the chair any harder he was going to break it. Logan cleared his throat, interrupting Phineas and Armando's argument, and looked to Dumbledore. "You wanted to see me?" Dumbledore, who'd been watching their argument with slight amusement, turned to him, "Yes I did Logan. You took the potion that Severus made?" Logan nodded and Dumbledore continued, "I apologize that you were not able to use the Pensieve to review your memories, but perhaps it would be better if you worked with Severus on unlocking concealed memories, as well as use the Pensieve." Snape had turned the sickly color of sour milk again, and was clutching the arms of the chair with anger. "Professor Dumbledore I apologize but I can't help Mr. Howlett. I have much to deal with at the moment." Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes hardened slightly as he turned his gaze to Snape. "I believe you have much on your plate, but surely you can remove some to accommodate him? Perhaps Miss Kinney can serve detention with another teacher?" Logan smirked slightly: what could she have done to get detention? Snape stood up rather swiftly and made his way to the door. Upon reaching it he turned, "Saturday, 3pm. Don't be late." He swept out the door, closing it with a slight bang.

Logan, muttering to himself, turned back to Dumbledore. "I'll take as much time as I need." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling again and Phineas, taking advantage of the quiet, started berating Logan again. "When I was headmaster we never let professors who knew nothing of their subjects teach. And at least they could use wands! It's no wonder I thought you were my good for nothing great-great-grandson! And look where he is: prison! Wouldn't be surprised if you've been there, you look the type-" Dumbledore sighed, "Phineas if you can't hold your tongue I'll have to ask you to go to your other portrait." Phineas sniffed and exited his painting, grumbling heatedly, but instead of appearing in another headmaster's portrait he was gone. "Where'd he go?" Logan asked. Dumbledore looked back at him, "To his other portrait in Grimmauld Place. You'll have to excuse him, he tends to be rather negative towards those not in his house." Logan nodded but didn't comment. Dumbledore stood up and made his way to the cabinet emitting the faint blue light. He opened it to reveal a stone basin with intricate carvings around the sides. He reached forward and pulled a shallow silver bowl out of the top and carried it back to the desk where he set it down, where it hovered above the desk. Wispy, smoke-like substance floated in what appeared to be water, emitting the light. Dumbledore motioned to them, "These are memories. Focus on the one memory that is the most jumbled." Logan did so and Dumbledore nodded, "Now hold your wand to your temple." Logan did as he was told (for once) and as he removed the tip of his wand, a wispy smoke-like substance dangled from the end of it before floating, like a feather, down to join the others. Curious, he prodded it with his wand and watched as it expanded. He looked to Dumbledore, who motioned him forward. Unsure what to expect, Logan held his breath before plunging his head into the liquid. When he opened his eyes, he was standing on a dirt road leading to a brick house. A scream came from inside, followed by a gunshot. Logan ran towards the door as it burst open, two young boys running down the steps and towards him. When they reached him they didn't stop but ran into him, or rather through him. He followed and heard snatches of their conversation, mostly about staying together, until they stopped. He watched perplexed as to how they didn't see him. The younger one looked to the older, "Victor I didn't mean it!" The older one narrowed his eyes, "Yes you did, and he deserved it. And you gave it to him." Victor put his hands on the younger's shoulders, "We're brothers Jimmy, do you realize that?" Logan took a step towards the boys, only to have them disappear as the scene dissolved into another. It looked like a type of civil war reenactment, though the weapons and blood were very real. A cannon passed through him and hit the man behind him, who stood up and threw it back at the one who'd shot it. Logan thought he looked vaguely familiar. Another cannon was fired and the man ducked, dissolving into another war. Scene after scene flashed in front of Logan's eyes: World War I, World War II, Vietnam War, all with the same man that was hit with the cannon, along with another, Victor. World War II was the clearest as it involved his time with Captain America, but he didn't really make the connection until the Vietnam War. Victor was attacking his fellow soldiers while the other man tried to stop him. The soldiers turned on them both and the man stuck his fist next to his head, bone claws sliding out from in between his knuckles. Logan watched, transfixed as Victor (Sabertooth), his brother, took joy in killing those around him. As he, Logan, defended Victor from the others, and finally, as they were both tied to posts and shot twenty-one times for treason only to be placed in a cell later, completely unscathed. The picture dissolved into black and Logan presumed it was done, until a familiar scene came to life around him. It was a laboratory of sorts with a large tank in the center where he, Logan, was sedated and immersed in. A breathing mask was attached to his mouth and nose, while many tubes where attached to his arms, legs, chest, and back. A man entered the room and glanced over Logan, before flipping a switch and pressing a series of buttons. Logan watched in horror as the nightmare he often woke from played out, uninterrupted, before his eyes. The Logan in the tank jerked and thrashed in the water as the monitor next to the man showed silver fluid enter his body and coat his bones. The man pressed another button and the captive Logan stopped thrashing as the last of the adamantium coated his bones. He turned to an unseen person, "Well done. Your experiment has worked. Weapon X is officially online." For one of the first times in his life, Logan was horrified: the man before him, the one who had made him what he was, was someone he had only recently seen the face of. The scene ended and Logan fell backwards gasping, onto the floor of Dumbledore's office.


	7. Chapter 7

Logan made his way to the Quidditch pitch in a daze, still reviewing what he'd seen in his head. Dumbledore had given him the Penseive to use and it was now sitting, or hovering, above the desk in his room. When he reached the pitch it was covered in rows of first years. He scanned those in the bleachers until he found Storm and Hank. He made his way up to them and collapsed onto the bench next to Hank. Storm leaned forward to look at him, "Logan? Are you all right?" He shook his head, but before Storm could ask why, Madam Hooch the flying instructor began the lesson, commanding everyone's attention. "First years, welcome to your first flying class. Place your right hand over your broom, that's it, and when I say go, speak very firmly, _UP_." She blew her whistle and every student standing on the pitch began yelling "UP." Pietro and Wanda were the first to get their brooms in their hands, followed by Kurt, Kitty, Evan, Charlie Weasley, Jean, Scott, and Rogue. When everyone had their broom in their hands, Madam Hooch moved on. "Swing your right leg over your broom and when I blow the whistle, gently lean forward and fly upward, circle the pitch, and land. Do not do anything other than what I just told you. Everyone understand? Good." _Tweet! _Went the whistle and up went no one. Logan groaned inwardly: if this was the whole of the flying lesson he wasn't so sure he was glad he came. He really wanted to watch the Weapon X scene again, no matter how horrible, along with the brief second he'd looked at the picture with the man he'd seen. _Please _somebody _fly._

Kurt was first to leave the ground, but Logan wasn't entirely sure it had nothing to do with his teleportation. It didn't take long for others to follow suit and the lesson passed without any major incident, until the last five minutes. Madam Hooch called everyone down to the ground, but as Kitty neared it her broom jerked upwards, nearly throwing her, and began to spin very fast. Kitty's screams echoed in the vast open space and everyone's eyes were trained on Kitty; everyone but Logan. His eyes were fixed on the hooded figure hidden under the stands on the opposite side of the pitch. He could distinctly see the person's wand pointed at Kitty. He let out a low growl and began making his way to the stairs leading to the pitch. "Logan where are you going!" Storm cried. He turned and jerked his thumb to the figure, "I'm gonna skin them alive." By the time he reached the spot (with Storm trailing behind with shouts of "Don't!" and "I swear if you do!") the figure had disappeared. Logan scowled and began sniffing him out, tracing him to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but didn't make it any farther because he was stopped by both Hagrid and Storm. Storm was whisper-scolding him so Hagrid couldn't hear her and Hagrid was going on about being careful because of werewolves, (Logan knew perfectly well that it was still daytime) centaurs, ("Stupid horses," Logan muttered) and giant spiders. Logan raised an eyebrow and looked up at Hagrid who grunted, "Shouldn' have told ya' tha'." Logan rolled his eyes and turned away from both he and Storm. "I'll see you at dinner."

Logan had one last class before dinner and it was the second years. The class continued with an essay Logan had been forced to give them (by McGonagall), and spent the whole class talking to Laura who'd finished her essay. "So, you got detention." It wasn't a question. Laura sighed, "Snape was asking for it. He called my potion awful and-" she stopped abruptly. Logan leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk, "And what?" Laura frowned before continuing, "Everyone knows he wants this job. He said that for once he thought that Dumbledore might have hired a good teacher but so far he was proved wrong." Logan smirked, "And so what did you do to earn yourself a detention?" Laura smiled slyly, "Well I just happened to rig my cauldron to explode when he was walking by. And it's his fault we were brewing a swelling solution. But I think it might have been the breaking point when I remarked that I'd told him my potion was fine." Logan snorted, "So you were proving a point?" She nodded and he laughed, "Next time, tell him he can take it up with me." Laura smiled, "I will. I take it you two didn't hit it off?" Logan snorted again, "If I'd hit him off a cliff than yes we did hit it off." The rest of class passed with conversation between the two and when the bell rang Laura waved goodbye before leaving with some friends.

It was nearly one in the morning on Saturday, and Logan still hadn't slept. He hadn't even changed out of his robes from the day before. He sat at his desk staring into the Pensieve hovering above it, contemplating whether or not to review what he'd already seen about a hundred times. He extracted his claws, the moonlight catching them and reflecting onto the surface of the Pensieve. _Logan is everything all right?_ Professor X's voice echoed in his head, interrupting his thoughts. Logan stood up and headed to the door, disregarding the time. Professor X was waiting for him when he arrived. "Do you have anything you wish to talk about?" "Charles do you know about the war that just went on here?" Professor X nodded, "The Wizarding War yes," he turned to look out the window, "Albus told me about it. A terrible dark wizard rose to power, bent on destroying those he deemed unfit to have magic; unfit to even _live_. But the war ended over three years ago: the dark wizard was defeated." Logan looked up, "Defeated? Then he's not dead?" Professor X shook his head, "Albus believes that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is still out there, biding his time in a weakened state." "Well I want to personally thank him for these," Logan growled, flashing his claws again. Professor X raised an eyebrow, "I thought that was because of the Weapon X project?" Logan scowled and flicked his wand, using the recently mastered summoning spell to summon the Pensieve. "See for yourself Charles." Professor X leaned forward and fell through the surface of the shallow bowl falling, as Logan did, into the dimly lit laboratory. The man Logan was painfully sure he knew began the sickening procedure all over again and Professor X watched with wide eyes as the captive Logan struggled. When the scene ended and he left the Pensieve, Professor X turned to Logan who was leaning against the wall, gauging his reaction. Logan prodded another one of the memories and motioned to Professor X again. When he returned, his lips were pressed tightly together and his eyes were closed, deep in thought. He opened his mouth to speak but Logan stopped him, "There's one more." They both entered this time, and the Quidditch pitch materialized in front of them, the same as it had been on the day of the flying lesson. Logan began walking to the opposite side of the grassy arena, breaking into a run when a cloaked figure appeared. Professor X followed closely and gasped when the face of the figure became fleetingly visible. A shadow passed over there face again and they fled as the image dissolved. Logan had his fists clenched, "Do you see the connection?" he growled. Professor X nodded, "Has anyone else seen this?" Logan shook his head and Professor X nodded, "We must tell Albus."

Dumbledore was awake in his office and even though it was nearing two in the morning, Logan wasn't surprised. The painting of Phineas Nigellus sniffed in irritation, but said nothing as they entered. Dumbledore set down the book he'd been reading, "Charles. Can I help you at this early hour?" Professor X sighed, "Sorry to disturb you Albus but I thought you should see this." Dumbledore emerged from the Penseive for the third time and calmly sat back in his chair; it was impossible to see if he was worried. "Well?" Logan asked. Dumbledore looked at them over his half-moon spectacles, "Well I see that your past has more to do with us than you thought. As for the figure you saw, I don't believe it was Voldemort. He would never risk exposing himself in such a weak state, and honestly I don't believe he's strong enough to stand, at least not on his own. However, I will add to the protection already surrounding the school." Professor X nodded and turned to go, Logan following him with slight reluctance. "Logan, I do ask that you leave the memory of the flying lesson with me." Logan turned and wordlessly dropped the memory into a vial held out by Dumbledore. "Thank you. Now Logan I also ask that you move your meeting with Severus to this morning." Logan scowled slightly but nodded.

Snape was none too thrilled to have to deal with Logan earlier than he planned, and Logan was equally as happy with not ever coming to the potions master's office again. But unfortunately both Dumbledore and Professor X thought it a good idea. Logan sat in the chair in front of Snape's desk, purposely avoiding looking at the gross liquid filled jars around him. Especially the one he was convinced was looking at him. Snape was pacing back and forth in front of him and if he didn't stop Logan was going to break his legs. Snape stopped pacing and turned to Logan, audibly sighing. "If this is inevitable, let's get it over with." Logan nodded and glanced at his watch, painfully aware it had only been five minutes of the three hours he was supposed to be there. Snape noticed and smirked, "Glad to see you can arrive on time for once." Logan smirked back, "Glad to see you have a facial expression other than scowling." Snape scowled and Logan's smirk grew, "Guess I was wrong." Snape narrowed his eyes and lowered himself into his desk chair. Logan began to glance around at the odd jars, aware that Snape was waiting for his attention, but choosing to stretch the thin patience the potion's professor had. "Are you quite finished wasting my time?" Snape hissed through clenched teeth. Logan turned to look at him, feigning innocence.

Snape was practically steaming out of his ears, his face turning a mottled red. Logan found that irritating him was like a game; a really, really amusing game. Logan tilted his head slightly, "Well what is it I'm supposed to do?" Snape stood up again, coming to face Logan in his chair, "Focus on the memory that makes the least amount of sense: the most confusing." Logan nodded, determined that the sooner they got this over with, the better. He closed his eyes and focused on a memory shortly before the Weapon X program. It was a mix of trees and wilderness, a cabin, and the face of a woman he supposed he knew. He opened his eyes slightly to see Snape waiting impatiently. Logan nodded and Snape pointed his wand at Logan's head. "Legilimens!" The memory surfaced, the images eerily clear. Trees appeared, the cabin coming into focus through them, the image zooming into the door. It opened and showed flashing images of the women: laughing, cooking, smiling, and dancing. The sky darkened and showed the outline of two figures on the balcony, arms around each other in a warm embrace. The picture ended abruptly, bringing Logan back to the present. Snape was standing over him, wand still raised, sneering. "Who was she?" Logan rubbed his head, trying to remember. "Silverfox," he breathed. Snape continued to sneer; his wand still raised, "And where is she now?" Logan closed his eyes, the memory no longer jumbled and hitting him painfully. "She's-" he replayed the memory again, "She's a traitor," he snarled but then softened, "And she'd dead because of me." Snape lowered his wand, sneer gone and his face pale, lips pressed tightly together. He closed his eyes, as if trying to block out a terrible memory of his own. Logan wasn't paying attention to him though, he was now recalling another memory, less painful, but of a time shortly after their cabin had been destroyed, this time not by Logan. As the building burned, Silverfox had handed him a scrap of paper with a strange drawing of a snake coming out of a skull like a tongue. Silverfox had said they were old acquaintances of hers that had wanted to 'talk' and it had gotten out of hand. The drawing, she'd said, was how they identified each other and proceeded to show him the one in her left forearm. It was dark and in the flickering light of the fire looked to be moving, but she had assured him there was nothing to worry about. "Death Eaters," Logan muttered, and Snape, now in his desk chair, turned to him. "What did you say?" Logan raised an eyebrow, forgetting momentarily that he'd been there. "Death Eaters. What do you know about them?" Snape scowled, "Death Eaters are the Dark Lord's followers. They identify each other by a mark on their arms: a snake-" "Coming out of a skull?" Snape nodded, eyeing Logan warily, "How do you know this?" Logan hesitated: should he really tell his third least favorite person? He weighed the pros and cons hastily: the pros being he'd learn more about why Silverfox had given him up to the Weapon X program and the cons being that he'd be relying on Snape for answers. Logan sighed and told him about the Death Eater raid and Silverfox's betrayal, which he was less willing to tell. Snape listened quietly, his face betraying none of the emotion he felt during Logan's tale. When he had finished, Snape noticed one small problem with the entire tale: "I thought you said she was dead because of you." It was not a question, and Logan knew it. "She is. Sabertooth killed her to get to me." Snape cocked his head, "How do you know this?"

Logan was slightly confused as to why Snape was so interested in this detail, that wasn't even in the story he told. "When I found her she was covered in cuts and gashes. He did that, and she bled to death," he growled. Snape nodded absentmindedly, and Logan was briefly reminded of the odd old man that ran this place, and the reason he was here. A thought occurred to him: Had this been Dumbledore's plan: to get him to trust Snape? He internally shook his head and turned his attention back to Snape, who seemed ready to speak. "If your girlfriend was involved with the Death Eaters and left of her own accord, it is extremely impossible that the Dark Lord let that slip by unnoticed. The reason for her death is very similar to the effects of the curse 'Sectumsempra' which causes many cuts to appear on the body and bleed profusely. Although she may not have been killed right away, I think she was killed when she was no longer of use, and was on the _verge_ of leaving therefore she couldn't have been let to live or she would tell the Ministry about what she'd seen and heard. I don't think the Dark Lord himself killed her, for that is considered a 'great honor,' but rather that one of his most trusted Death Eaters took care of the job." He said it all almost thoughtfully, and it unnerved Logan at how he sounded practically _fond_ of the terrible deeds done by this 'Dark Lord.' Logan now noticed that Snape had had his right arm clenched over his left, exactly where the Dark Mark would be. Logan narrowed his eyes, "It seems you know a lot about this. I can't help but, _wonder_, if you experienced it," he said, clenching his fists. Snape looked to him and smirked, "Yes I was a Death Eater. But I am no longer with them, or I wouldn't be teaching would I? I speak from experience yes, I invented 'Sectumsempra' and should know better than anyone the effects. I also know many people who met the same fate your girlfriend did, though although I know why they were killed I admit I don't know why she was." His eyes locked on Logan's and Logan knew it would be better to tell him his suspicions, because he had a suspicion that Dumbledore told the guy everything anyway. "Silverfox sold me out for Weapon X." Snape now genuinely looked confused and Logan wished he had a camera, "Weapon X?" Logan nodded and held up his fist, letting the blades in between his knuckles slide out in front of a now completely bewildered Snape. "Weapon X was a program that made these and the rest of my bones coated in adamantium." Snape had regained his composure, "Adamantium?" Logan nodded again, suddenly aware that he had, until this point, never been able to explain what had happened to him. Although Snape would not have been on the list of people to tell first, he was the only one here. So Logan began explaining that his basic mutant powers had been regenerative healing and bone claws, that after Weapon X had been a completely indestructible skeleton coated in adamantium, a metal stronger than steel. And after a mishap during his escape, he had suffered from amnesia and remembered very little about his past, though World War II was most of the time clear. He explained that due to the healing factor it was almost impossible to know his age, though now his memory was restored he was pretty sure he was approaching his 100th birthday, again catching Snape off guard for the third time- that must be some sort of record- who, for a fraction of a minute, dropped his intimidating, serious nature to exclaim that there was no possible way Logan was close to Dumbledore's age, which was 102 years old, because he only looked like he was a couple years older than himself(Snape). Logan actually laughed, saying how it was slightly convenient to be stuck looking like he was in his forties, and Snape shook his head saying he was wrong that Logan was barely older than himself, because he was only twenty-four. Logan leaned back in his chair, surprised that he'd been in one of his least favorite person's presence and hadn't killed him. He was even more surprised that talking to said person had worked: his memories were now clear and made sense.

Word spread quite quickly that there were mutants at the school, and that three of them were teachers. Personally Jean couldn't help but wonder how they'd been so dense. Kurt and Mr. McCoy were both blue and furry, Kitty had slid through the table twice at breakfast on Wednesday, and Logan's claws had become known on Wednesday as well, with the help of Peeves the poltergeist who often followed Logan around to irritate him by yelling "Cranky Claws!" in his face. And just the other day, Jean had levitated her feather in Charms without a wand. Suffice to say pretty much everybody had learned that she, Scott, Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Logan, Ororo, Mr. McCoy, the Professor, Evan, and even Pietro and Wanda, were mutants. Jean had prepared herself for the scorn, name-calling, and shunning that often took place when people learned they were mutants. She was therefore surprised when, after dinner on Sunday, the girl she'd befriended from Hufflepuff, Nymphadora Tonks, still wanted to be her friend. "Duh, everyone _here_ is different! You're just a little more different, but in a super cool way! You can move stuff with your mind right? That's so cool! Wish I could do that. Hey, are you trying out for the commentating gig?" Jean raised her eyebrows, "I hadn't thought about it. I mean I could, but I think Kitty or Kurt would be better at it." Kitty, who'd been behind them, phased through Jean to talk to Tonks(as Nymphadora liked being called) "Yeah, like, it'd be so cool to commentate a wizard sport you know? Do you guys have microphones or something?" Tonk nodded, "It's kind of like a microphone. I mean it's, well, I know! I'll show you guys!" She grabbed Jean's hand, Jean grabbed Kitty's, and the three ran down the hall. They arrived on the Quidditch pitch and Tonk's led them to one of the tallest, and smallest, stands. As they climbed the steps, Tonk's explained about Quidditch. "So there are seven players to a team: one Keeper, three Chasers, two Beaters, and a Seeker. The Keeper guards the goal posts," she pointed to the three hoops at either end of the pitch, "From the other team's Chaser. The Chasers take the Quaffle and try to throw it through one of those hoops. The Beaters have to bats, kinda like the ones the please-men carry," Jean and Kitty snickered slightly at her pronunciation of 'policemen,' "And they try to hit the Bludgers at the other team's players. The Seeker is almost the most important person. They have to be fast and agile to catch the Snitch. That's the smallest ball, and when the Seeker catches it the team gets a hundred and fifty points and the game ends." They reach the top of the stands and Tonk's raced over to a small box. She pressed the button on top and a board slid out from the top, as well as a drawer from the bottom. She pointed to the board with two number wheels used to keep score as well as two slots for the names of the houses playing, "This is where the score is kept. And this," she picked up the bell-shaped microphone from the drawer, "Is the microphone thing. You talk into it and it magnifies your voice with magic!" She cleared her throat, "Hello?" Her voice echoed in the empty stands. She set it back, pressing the button again and closing the box. "See?"

Kitty was bouncing on the balls of her feet, waiting outside McGonagall's office with Kurt. She opened the door and stepped back to let them in. "Ms. Pryde, Mr. Wagner, you've had my class for a week. I assure you your grades are fine." Kitty shook her head quickly, "No we wanted to ask about the commentating for Quidditch." McGonagall raised an eyebrow, "I am not your head of house. I suggest you take it up with Professor McCoy." "Mr., er, Professor McCoy said we were the only Hufflepuffs who wanted to try-out. He said to ask you cause you, like, know more about it too." McGonagall sighed and looked at the list that had the names of students who wanted to commentate this year. It was a rather short list: no one from Slytherin wanted to do it, no one from Ravenclaw, and only one person from Gryffindor. She was actually glad these to two had stepped up because the Gryffindor student was one whom she knew to get in trouble. She looked up at the brown-haired girl and the blue-furred boy, "Very well. Quidditch tryouts for Gryffindor are scheduled for tomorrow after dinner. If the two of you don't have anything else planned perhaps you could take turns commentating on the tryouts so I can judge how well you do." Kurt and Kitty glanced at each other before nodding. McGonagall nodded her head as well, "Very well I shall inform the Gryffindor student. Now I suggest the two of you get to bed. Curfew is not very far away."


	8. Chapter 8

The next night, Kitty and Kurt made their way to the pitch, along with Logan who'd been told by Laura to show up and watch her. The stands were completely empty, but the pitch had several students holding brooms and talking excitedly. Logan rolled his eyes and made his way up the stands with Kitty and Kurt trailing behind. McGonagall and a boy who Logan had immediately not liked in his third year class waited. Logan and McGonagall sat down on the wooden bench, while the Gryffindor third year took the microphone and cleared his throat loudly. On the pitch, the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain was yelling from his place in the air above them. "All first years please leave NOW! And if you're not a Gryffindor either, beat it!" Ten or twelve figures left, giggling and tossing the brooms they held into an open shed. The Captain spoke again, "Chaser tryouts, to the left, Keeper to the right, Seeker below me, and Beaters in front. Good. Now we'll go with Keeper first." There were two students trying out for Keeper, seven for Chaser, four for Seeker, and five for Beater. As the Keeper and Chasers tried out, the Gryffindor boy commentated loudly, obnoxiously, and rather badly. On his fifth biased comment, McGonagall snatched the microphone out of his hand and told him he could go. Kitty went next for the remaining Chaser tryouts and then for two of the Seeker. Logan was particularly interested with her commentary of Laura's. "OMG I know her! She's, like, that girl that came to the mansion before! Sorry Professor, okay so X-23-" "Laura," Logan hissed and Kitty nodded. "Oh okay, Laura just stole the Quaffle from the captain, who's playing an opposing team and, like, wow! She just scored from like, ten yards away from the goal! She's really good. I bet you're proud of her right Mr. Logan?" Logan cleared his throat and sank into his seat to avoid the gazes cast in their direction while McGonagall told Kitty to focus on the tryouts. When Kitty finished with the two students trying out for Seeker, Kurt commentated for the last two as well as the five Beaters. He was good and kept on topic, however he was also nervous and when he finished, told McGonagall that although it'd been fun, he wasn't really cut out for it. Kitty was ecstatic to be the new commentator and gave McGonagall a hug, "Thanks Professor! You won't be disappointed I promise!" She and Kurt transported to the Hufflepuff common room, as Kurt no longer had to hide his power. McGonagall bid Logan goodnight and made her way to the castle as Logan waited for Laura. She ran up to him, broomstick in hand, "So how'd I do?" Logan shrugged, "I don't know what you were supposed to be doing exactly, but Half-Pint seems to know what she was talking about. So yeah, you did good." Laura laughed, "Were you proud of me?" Logan smirked and put his arm on her head, resting it there, "Yeah I guess I was proud." Laura pushed his arm off, "You think I'll make the team?" Logan nodded as they went up to the castle. Halfway there, Laura turned downhill and then grabbed the back of Logan's robes, pulling him downhill towards the Black Lake and stopping at the edge. She let go and pointed to the mirror-like water. "Ever met who lives here?" Logan shook his head and Laura whistled loudly and shrilly. The water rippled slightly and a large squid appeared from the depths, waving one of its tentacles in greeting. Laura reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a piece of toast, tossing it to the squid who caught it and quickly ate. Logan stood watching with arms crossed, eyebrows raised. Laura laughed, "That's the giant squid. He lives here." Logan snorted, "No kidding." He turned away from the lake, eyes drawn to a light not far from where they were. It was near the Forbidden Forest, so he had to wonder why it was so close to it. Laura followed his gaze and smiled, "Let's go see Hagrid," she said, pulling him towards the light.

The light came from a rather small hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. In the light of the full moon they could see a pumpkin patch with already-large pumpkins growing in it. The great booming bark of what must have been a large dog came from inside. "What're ya' barkin' at yeh dozy dog! S'no one there!" The door swung open, throwing the light onto Logan and Laura along with Hagrid's great shadow. "Alrigh' Fang there was someone there. What're you two doin' here so late? Nevermin' where are me manners? Come on in!" Laura and Logan both stepped inside, Logan marveling at the interior. It was a one-roomed house with hams and pheasants hanging from the ceiling. A large fireplace was against the far wall, a copper kettle hanging over it boiling water. In the corner, a massive bed with a patchwork quilt sat with his pink umbrella, mokeskin coat and a crossbow leaning on the wall next to it. Laura and Logan sat down in two chairs around a small table while Hagrid sat in a third, larger one. He held a tin out to them filled with what looked like, well, rocks. Laura took one politely while Logan eyed them curiously. Hagrid chuckled, "S'not poison. They're my homemade rock cakes. Made these with raisins." Logan took one and tried biting it, but of all the bones in his body, his teeth were not made of adamantium and Logan immediately stopped trying to bite it when he felt one of his back teeth shift. Hagrid, who was busying himself making them tea, didn't notice as Logan chucked the rock cake out the open window. The large dog named Fang lifted his wrinkled face to Logan before getting up and plodding over to him, resting his large head on Logan's knee. Hagrid poured the tea into mugs and shook his bearded head at him, "Fang get off a him ya' dozy dog. He don' want yer drool all over his leg." Logan shrugged, patting Fang's large head, "It's okay Hagrid." Laura caught Logan's eye and wagged her eyebrows. He bit his fist to keep from laughing. Hagrid sat down again and looked between the two. "Ya' know you two look real similar. S'like yer related er somethin'." Laura raised her eyebrows and looked to Logan who gave a small nod. She cleared her throat, "Well Logan and I are related, sort of. We're clones." Hagrid almost spit out his tea. "Clones?" he choked out. Logan nodded, still petting Fang's head, "Some, er, scientists took my DNA and tried to clone me." Laura took a sip of tea, "Twenty-two times." Hagrid's bushy eyebrows rose slightly, "Twenty-two?" Logan nodded, "The, _program_, that enhanced me called me Weapon X. Laura was the twenty-third clone and the only one that didn't go insane." "X-23," Laura said simply. Hagrid nodded, "Interestin'. So yer like father and daughter?" Logan raised his eyebrows and looked to Laura, "Yeah. I never thought of it that way." Laura nodded, "We kind of are." Hagrid smiled and leaned forward towards Logan, "What do ya' think a dragons?" Logan blinked, "Dragons?"

The next hour or so was spent talking about dragons and other magical creatures, something Hagrid knew extensively. Hagrid finally glanced outside and saw how dark it had gotten. "My goodness! It's real late! You two best get back ter the castle. 'Specially you," he said, pointing to Laura. Logan shrugged standing up, "She's fine. She's with a _professor_." Hagrid saw them to the door, "Well keep a look out. Professor Snape's patrolling tonight and you don' want him ter catch ya'." Logan smirked as he and Laura made their way up to the castle, "Well I'd just _love_ to run in to my _new friend."_


	9. Chapter 9

The next month and a half passed rather quickly and before anyone knew it, Halloween was almost upon them and the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor on the first weekend of November. In less than a day, the entire castle was decorated for Halloween from floating candles to real bats in the rafters. On Halloween day, Logan was walking out of the Great Hall after lunch to see Hagrid struggling to bring several giant pumpkins into the castle. Since there was a short break in between lunch and his next class, Logan decided to help out. "Need some help?" Hagrid looked up, "Actually if ya' wouldn' mind tha'd be great. I can' get these through the door withou' magic but strictly speaking, I'm not allowed ter use it." Logan considered whether to use his strength or wand to get them in. He decided on his wand because Hagrid, who was larger and probably stronger than Logan, hadn't been able to lift them. But then again, if he used his wand and got the spell wrong, he'd probably blow the pumpkin- and perhaps Hagrid- up. So he re-decided on strength. They both grabbed a side and lifted, _Man Hagrid was right. These are heavy._ "Can' understand why there so heavy. I already gutted 'em and everything," Hagrid grunted. Logan felt the weight of the pumpkin shift towards him along with a very faint "Oof!" "Wait a minute," he set the pumpkin down and Hagrid had no choice but to do the same. Nudging the top off, Logan pulled himself onto the edge of the pumpkin and peered into it. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff stared back. "Get out of there!" They both pulled themselves up and out, laughing uncontrollably. Hagrid blinked in surprise, "You two! I told ya' not ter mess with me pumpkins!" Logan glared down at them, "Don't worry. I can just tell their head of house." Pietro's eyes widened, "No please don't tell Snape! He'll give us detention and it'll probably be cleaning cauldrons." Wanda made a face, "Or de-horning horned toads." Logan blinked, "That's fowl. Alright I'll let you off the hook this time. But I'm taking five house points. Each." He turned to Hagrid as they left, "I can do that right?" Hagrid nodded and now that the pumpkin had been relieved of the burden, it was fairly easily to bring inside. Hagrid then brought the rest in after asking Logan if he minded carving the pumpkins with his claws. When Logan had finished, he'd been particularly proud of his work, as was Hagrid and the tiny Professor Flitwick who was overseeing the decorations. "Positively frightening!" he squeaked. Logan's eyes flitted to the ceiling, and he excused himself from further decorating to find his way to his classroom early for once. Halfway there, Logan relaxed as he knew exactly where he was and that it wasn't hard to reach the classroom from here. "Excuse me but have you perhaps seen the Bloody Baron?" Logan turned to see a transparent man floating behind him, head sitting on his neck precariously and threatening to fall off. Logan had seen this man- or rather ghost- at dinner several times. He was the Gryffindor ghost by the name of Nearly Headless Nick. Of course he preferred to be called by his full name: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. There was no way Logan was saying either, so he was Nick or Nicholas. Logan raised an eyebrow, "No I haven't." The ghost sighed, "Peeves has taken the third corridor hostage and refuses to let anyone pass without dropping pens and ink on their heads. I must find the Bloody Baron to stop him." Logan shrugged, "Sorry I haven't seen him." Nick nodded and glided over to float next to Logan, "Well I'm sure the other ghosts will find him. But perhaps I'll just accompany you to wherever you're going." Logan folded his arms, "Are you scared of finding the Baron?" Nick shook his head, causing it to wobble dangerously, "Absolutely not. How dare you even suggest a thing!" Logan smirked, knowing he'd hit a nerve, "Well good because I'm even worse bub." Nick narrowed his eyes and said sarcastically, "Professor Logan you are hilarious." Logan turned and made his way down the hall, Nick trailing behind him. A thought suddenly struck Logan, "Nick, how long you been around?" Nick "scratched" his chin in thought, "Since 1492 I believe." Logan swallowed his surprise and asked his next question, "So did you know the dark wizard?" Nick stopped mid-glide, "I-I well yes, but, I, I am not the one to ask. Perhaps Helena, yes, she could tell you much better than I could. But no one, could tell you better than Dumbledore. I-I must be off, must find the Baron. If you'll excuse me." He passed through the wall to the right and was gone. Of course it hadn't been Logan's, well, _main_ goal to get him to leave, but it was still achieved. His main goal had been to find out more on the man who had given him his metal claws. "Ask Dumbledore, I just might do that."

The entire school was buzzing with excitement for tonight's Halloween feast, but neither the X-Men nor the Maximoff's knew why. Logan had seen the decorations in the Great Hall, and besides the pumpkins, there hadn't been much to really get excited over. That, however, was not the case when everyone came into the Great Hall that night. Live bats flew around the ceiling; the large pumpkins Logan had helped carve were filled with light and set at different corners of the hall. Instead of the normal feast set out every night, the food was mostly candy related, and the few actual nourishing foods were Halloween inspired, and therefore everyone was wary in trying them. "Dinner" consisted mostly of candy-filled pumpkins, apples, black cauldrons filled with big lollipops, and carrot cake. Bats, orange streamers, and all sorts of Halloween-related decorations adorned the tables. At the end of the great feast, the Hogwarts Ghosts came out of the walls and performed some formation gliding. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and even Logan had to admit it was all rather impressive.

Logan deeply regretted now that there was nothing to eat but candy, and even if he'd eaten very little, his stomach would not let him sleep. He spent close to an hour trying to conjure up food, but having barely mastered simple spells like 'Wingardium Leviosa' and 'Accio,' it was extremely difficult (even if it had been possible to make food from nothing) and after conjuring a parrot at least seven times, Logan was ready to call it quits and perhaps just eat the parrot, if only it was actual food. A knock sounded on his door, and Logan wondered for a second who could be up (besides him) at midnight. The knock sounded again, louder, "Alright! I'm coming." Logan made it about halfway to the door when Kitty stuck her head through it. "Mr. Logan are you, like, as hungry as I am? I mean the candy was good but it wasn't filling you know?" "Well come on in," Logan said sarcastically, which Kitty missed and just stepped through his door completely, clad in her pink pajamas. He sighed, "Yeah Half-pint I'm pretty hungry. There's gotta be some sort of kitchen in this place." Kitty nodded, "Yeah there is! I heard some older students talking about it. I know where it is too! It's like, near the Hufflepuff common room entrance." Logan was a third down the hall, "You coming Half-pint?"

Kitty led him down to the basement of the school, towards the Hufflepuff common room. She led him down a flight of stairs near the entrance to the Great Hall and into a broad, brightly lit, stone corridor decorated with cheerful paintings of mostly food. Logan noticed several barrels stacked against the wall in a nook on the right-hand side of the corridor, and Kitty explained that it was the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. She walked up to a large picture of a silver bowl of fruit and reached to the pear, tickling it and waiting as it turned into a large green door handle. She yanked the portrait back like a door and they stepped into what could only be the kitchens. It was enormous, with high-ceilings and five tables identical to the ones in the Great Hall, which Kitty explained was where food was placed before it went up to the tables in the Great Hall above. Large quantities of pots and pans were heaped around the stone walls, and a large brick fireplace sat at the other end of the hall from the door. At first, Logan saw no one and wondered where all the employees slept, when several tugs at his pant legs, accompanied by several high-pitched voices met him. He looked down and could only gape at the tiny creatures around him. They were only two or three feet tall, with thin arms and legs and large heads and eyes. As they spoke, their large, bat-like ears flapped up and down as they nodded their heads at him. All were wearing what looked like pillowcases, and their voices were so high Logan was having trouble hearing what they were saying. Kitty giggled, "These are house-elves. They, like, make all the food and clean the castle." She bent down, and one of the creatures spoke, "What woulds you like miss?" Kitty thought for a second, "I'll have a sandwich. Mr. Logan what do you want?" "Sandwich is fine," he managed to get out. Several house-elves looked almost sad at the simple request, "Wouldn't you likes something more sir?" Logan didn't know how to reply, or wait, yes he did, "I'll take a firewhisky if you have it."

The house-elves were more than happy to get them anything they asked, always asking if they wanted more and calling Logan "Sir" and Kitty "Miss." The house-elves had gotten them their ordered sandwiches, but Logan couldn't remember asking for thirty of them. Nether the less, he ate them all. Kitty had one sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup that a house-elf had brought her. The house-elves then proceeded to bring dessert: chocolate éclairs, cakes, pumpkin pasties, and donuts. Neither Logan nor Kitty remembered ordering dessert, but the house-elves seemed to delight in bringing them food, the plates and dishes balanced on their heads as they ran back-and-forth. At half past one, Logan suggested they leave. Kitty nodded and the two started to make their way to the door, still being bombarded by house-elves with cries of "Would you like some to take with you sir?" "Would you like somes too miss?" Kitty held up her hands, "No really it's, like, okay. I'm good you know?" With some difficulty, Logan and Kitty left empty-handed (well not Logan, he'd taken some firewhisky) and bid each other goodnight. Kitty went to the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room while Logan climbed the stairs and slowly made his way to his room.

He stopped in front of the Great Hall, tugging the cork of a bottle with his teeth and glancing around in the dimly lit area: the doors leading outside and to the hall were closed, locked tight; suits of armor stood stationary, unmoving (though they sometimes did) while the few occupants of the paintings on the walls were sleeping soundly. Torches burned in their fixtures, and Logan wondered not for the first time why a school of magic didn't have electricity. He stopped trying to uncork the bottle and sniffed: someone was coming. The figure didn't have to come into the light for Logan to know who it was: the shuffling gait, bitter muttering, and occasional meow of a cat: Filch. Logan groaned and looked around to see if by some miracle he could get out of meeting the man but there was none. As Filch came into the circle of light cast by the torch above Logan, Logan continued to tug at the cork in the bottle of firewhisky having come to the assumption that after an encounter with the bitter caretaker, he was going to need it. Filch was muttering to himself about "the damn poltergeist" and didn't appear to be a good mood. _Terrific_, Logan thought and now realized that with how slow Filch had been going, if he'd sprinted to the stairs he could have avoided a confrontation. _Too late now. _Filch had now seen Logan, "Someone's been down to the kitchens. Lucky you're a teacher or I'd report you to the headmaster." Logan clenched his fist to keep from hitting Filch. He started towards the stairs, "Luck ain't got nothing to do with it bub. Now get lost." Filch scowled but didn't reply as Logan made his way up the stairs to his room. Unfortunately, the staircase leading to it decided to move and wouldn't move back, leaving Logan on a landing he'd never been on. On a split decision, he went through the archway and down the hall; half hoping he'd meet a patrolling teacher. Several paintings grumbled as he passed, for he'd gotten his wand out and managed to light the tip and they didn't appreciate having a light shone in their eyes. A rather large portrait of a rather large women grumbled quite loudly as he passed, but that wasn't why he stopped.

Rogue had had a detention with Professor Snape, and he'd _conveniently_ made it last past curfew, knowing she'd get in trouble if she was caught. That, and when she'd gotten to the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, the picture that guarded it, the Fat Lady, had changed the password and refused to let her in because she didn't know it AND she'd woken her up. She was lying next to the portrait trying, possibly, to get some sleep since she'd already missed about four hours of it. So it was just her luck that Logan found her. She was going to get ANOTHER detention and possibly some points deducted AND when they got back to the Institute for the summer, he'd probably make her do some really hard training exercise. Logan was holding two bottles of what Rogue wasn't surprised to learn was firewhisky, and his lit wand, looking at her with a slightly amused, slightly confused expression. "What are you doing up at two in the morning? And out here?" Rogue sighed and stood up, glaring in the Fat Lady's direction, "Professor Snape gave me detention and ah only just got out like an hour ago. The Fat Lady changed the password and ah don't know what it is. She won't let me in!" Logan raised an eyebrow, "Snape know it was past curfew?" Rogue crossed her arms, "Yeh he did. That's why it took so long. He never liked me and he hoped I'd get caught by a teacher." She motioned to him, crossed her arms again, and looked away, "Guess he got his wish. So, what're you gonna do? Give me another detention? Take points? Wouldn't be the first time." Logan rolled his eyes, "You've had enough trouble for one night." He walked over to the now sleeping Fat Lady, "Hey." She woke rather grumpily, "What?" she snapped, "Three times! I've been woken three times tonight! Dumbledore will be hearing my complaints I assure you." Logan rolled his eyes again, "You do that. Now let her in," he pointed to Rogue. The Fat Lady sniffed haughtily, "No password, no entry. What do you think I'm here for?" Logan smirked, "Well you're not just standing there looking pretty," he muttered loud enough only for Rogue to hear, who covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Logan held out his left hand, letting his claws slide effortlessly out. "Now, I can assure you this girl is a Gryffindor student, if that's what you're worried about. But if you disagree," he casually turned his claws left and right, the torch light catching them and reflecting back. The Fat Lady narrowed her eyes and swung forward to allow Rogue to enter. "For future reference, the password is 'Cadogan.'" Logan raised an eyebrow as he retracted his claws, "Like that painting of the guy and the pony?" The Fat Lady rolled her eyes, "I lost a bet." Logan smirked as he continued down the hall, now set on finding Snape and giving him a piece of his mind rather than getting back to his room.

Although Snape and Logan had had a civil conversation during the three hours they'd been forced to work together in the "memory session", they were by no means friends. If anything, they simply tolerated each other a little more than before. But as Logan now realized, not by much. He knocked on Snape's office door and without waiting for a reply, barged in. Snape looked up from what must have been grading homework, and glanced at the clock. Logan glanced at it too: it was nearly three in the morning. _Why is it _normal _to be up at three in the morning?_ Logan wondered. Snape sighed and set the quill he'd been using and leaned forward on his desk, finger tips together. "Can I help you Mr. Howlett?" Logan rolled his eyes at his formality, "What's your game bub? Keeping Rogue past curfew knowing she could get caught?" Snape tilted his head slightly to the side and smirked, "Ms. Darkholme blew up her cauldron in my class. She received detention and I, ah, lost track of time." Logan narrowed his eyes but before he could retort, Dumbledore entered the room. Logan looked at him skeptically: something was off about him. Snape meanwhile had stood up, "Headmaster? What is it you need?" Dumbledore smiled and Logan stared at Dumbledore's eyes: they weren't twinkling, yet he seemed happy. He sniffed slightly and closed his eyes. They shot open and he growled: he knew that scent. In one swift movement Dumbledore was against the wall, Logan's claws inches from his neck while Snape protested almost to the point of hexing Logan. Logan jerked his claws to Snape, "What's his first name?" he snarled to Dumbledore, who didn't answer. Snape sputtered in disbeleif, "He knows that! It's-" Logan pointed his claws to him, "Don't." Dumbledore didn't say anything, and Logan put his claws away, only to grab Dumbledore's neck. "What do you want?" he growled. Dumbledore smirked and replied in a more feminine voice, "Nothing. I'm just having a bit of fun. Don't you know what that is?" The old man's features slowly melted away and a blue-skinned woman in a black high-necked top showing most of her stomach, black skirt with two rather high thigh slits and symmetrical slits in the waist, ankle high black boots and a matching piece of material around her left wrist stood in Logan's grasp, her red hair flattened against the wall with a yellow jewel placed in the top of her forehead. Her yellow eyes glinted mischievously. Logan let go of her neck, but grabbed her arm and flung her to the ground. She smirked and stood up, "Logan," she said, still smirking. "Mystique," he growled but didn't attack. Snape looked back and forth between the two figures, wand raised but no longer pointed at Logan. "You-you know each other?" Mystique looked to him, "No," she replied sarcastically. In the small space, she still managed to do a back-flip onto the chair in front of Snape's desk, propping her feet on it. "What's this I hear that you gave Rogue detention?" Logan rolled his eyes and leaned against the now closed door, "Awh did you come to get revenge but I got in the way?" he asked mockingly. Mystique smiled, "Well no, not exactly," she turned to Snape, "But you did give her detention?" Snape nodded, slowly lowering his wand, but watching the blue-skinned woman closely. Mystique nodded, "Well let's not do that again." It wasn't a direct threat, but still held a hint of danger, something that Snape didn't want to test. Mystique picked up the quill, tapping her finger on the tip, "You actually use this?" Logan snorted, "Strange right?" Mystique set the quill down and looked at Snape, "You know they have pens right?" He just stared; curious as to how her skin was that color, and also as to why she was there. Before he could ask, however, Logan voiced his thoughts: "What are you doing here?" Mystique inspected her fingernails as if his question wasn't as important, "Well I heard that Pietro and Wanda were here-" Logan waved that away, "You don't care enough about them." Mystique continued, "I heard Rogue was here, as were the rest of you, and Erik sent me to keep an eye on his children, especially Wanda." She stood up and gave a great sweeping yet mocking bow, "I'll be an assistant to Professor McGonagall in the Transfiguration department. Speaking of which, this is obviously not. They really need a map: I've gotten lost twice and have run into that infuriating caretaker and the stupid poltergeist. Until we meet again." She turned to go as Logan couldn't help but laugh, "_Until we meet again_, which is breakfast." At the last second, she turned around and looked at Snape, "What is your first name?" He cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter, "Severus." Mystique nodded, "Raven, though you can call me Mystique." Her form flickered and she became a pale-skinned woman with large glasses and short brown hair, "Or Ms. Darkholme," her form shrunk and she became a pink and purple haired girl, "Or Risty," she said finally in a slight British accent. Changing into her original form, she left as Logan called after her, "Or how about irritating?"


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning at breakfast, Dumbledore introduced Mystique as a Transfiguration "prodigy" followed by a small demonstration of her skills. After turning into a raven and back, the hall thundered with applause and Dumbledore ended with telling everyone that she had been sorted as a Slytherin. She sank back down into her chair next to Logan, who brushed several black feathers away from him. "No feathers in my food, if you don't mind, _Raven_." Mystique rolled her eyes, and picked up a box of cereal labeled "Cheery Owls." She pulled a face, "Is this like that toucan cereal?" Logan raised an eyebrow, swallowing his mouthful of eggs, "You eat cereal made from toucans?" Mystique narrowed her eyes, "You know what I mean Logan." He shook his head, "It's nothing like the toucan cereal." He grabbed the box and dumped some in her bowl, "Eat first, and criticize later." Mystique glared as she ate her cereal, and Storm, who was sitting next to Logan, sighed, "Must you two be at each other's throats?" Logan replied by spearing a sausage with his claws, making Storm glare and Hagrid, who'd reached for a sausage as well, snort into his pumpkin juice.

Mystique and Logan were civil, just as Snape and Logan were, but unlike Snape, Logan and Mystique constantly irritated each other. Finally, Dumbledore told them that although their rivalry was nonviolent, he'd heard from a source (Logan was pretty sure it was Charles) that there could end up being trouble. They were both seated in his office, Logan covered in ink (courtesy of Peeves again) and Mystique covered in cereal (courtesy of Logan) as he spoke to them. Dumbledore put his fingertips together, "The three of you will attend the Hogsmeade visit a week from Saturday so you can come to an understanding." They both nodded absentmindedly, until Mystique noticed something he'd said, "Wait, three of us?" Dumbledore nodded and looked to the door, "Severus you may come in." Snape entered, acting as if he hadn't been standing outside the door for the past five minutes, but he, Logan, AND Dumbledore knew he had. Mystique simply raised her eyebrows, unaware that he had been outside the door. "Little in the dark aren't we Mystique?" Logan said it softly and Mystique childishly stuck her tongue at him and he smirked when several cornflakes fell onto her exposed tongue. Snape didn't look at either of them as Dumbledore spoke, "Logan, Raven, the two of you have had a rivalry for quite some time and although I thank you in your efforts to keep it nonviolent as we are in a school, but I'm afraid that for the students and for the other staff members, I simply can't risk that you won't _physically_ fight." He turned his attention to Snape, "Severus you and Logan worked together once, and seem to get along well but there is always room for improvement. The three of you will be attending the Hogsmeade trip coming up and you will all work to come to terms with WHY you can't get along and try to resolve it." Dumbledore's tone wasn't demanding, nor was it serious, but you simply didn't want to disagree with him, and his point was made and accepted. Logan, Mystique, and Snape left Dumbledore's office shortly after that, neither of them quite happy about the forced time they'd have to spend together.

Storm sat in her desk chair, rubbing her temples as she stared at the now clean office. When she'd first entered the extra Herbology office, she'd found that Pomona Sprout, the temporarily absent Herbology professor, had used it as an extra shed. It was filled with bags of dragon dung compost, several bags of dung, packets of seeds, and a Venomous Tentacula that had taken up residence. It had taken several hours and lots of rain-caused water to clean it and rid it of the dragon dung smell. The Venomous Tentacula had proven harder to get rid of, and Storm had resorted to lightening to get rid of it. As it was now dinner time, she made her way into the castle and to the Great Hall. She should have been suspicious when her nephew, Evan, passed her with surprising speed on his entrance. But she'd ignored it and continued to her seat next to Logan, whose hands were stained with ink, while Mystique next to Logan was absentmindedly combing cornflakes out of her hair. Storm shook her head but thought it better not to question, especially since Logan didn't look like talking. As dinner appeared on the plates, she scanned the Great Hall and saw Evan again; hastily hiding what looked like a red skateboard under his bench and grinning slightly guiltily up at her. She narrowed her eyes but decided it'd be better to ask what he did AFTER dinner. She didn't have to wait that long. A BANG! from the Slytherin table made her choke on her pumpkin juice, and when the smoke cleared, three people had elephant trunks. A girl next to Wanda stood up, pointing to the cups the victims had drunk from: "Don't drink the pumpkin juice." Storm blinked and looked to Evan, who was doubled over in peals of laughter along with half the hall as several more people fell victim to his prank. Storm slowly looked down at her drink and then back at Evan, immediately spitting out the pumpkin juice she hadn't swallowed, but at the same time already feeling a funny itching in her nose. She stood up, eyes whitening and hair blowing, "EVAN!" Hardly aware of the now present elephant trunk, she forced her winds to pick up every last drop of pumpkin juice, expelling it out the front doors, and turning angrily to Evan who held up his hands in surrender. "Okay Auntie O you win." The hall was no longer ringing with laughter, though there were a few sparse whispers. Storm literally stormed out of the Great Hall, the X-Men trailing behind her, and Logan laughing at her "nose job." She turned on him, "Don't you start James Howlett." Logan stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow, "Logan. I'm not James. Not anymore." Storm shook her head, trunk swinging back and forth, "I'm sorry Logan I'm just, tired." He shrugged, "I needed a laugh today. Mistake, the bat, and I are being forced to go to Hogsmeade next weekend." Kurt teleported in front of them making Logan growl "Elf" under his breath, "It's Mystique and who's the bat?" Logan shook his head, "I know what I said." Kitty walked through Logan, much like one of the ghosts would, "The bat is Professor Snape right? I've heard lots of people saying that he's kinda like a bat. And he is you know?" Before anyone could reply, footsteps sounded behind them and turning they saw McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey running towards them. Upon reaching them, Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue and took Storm's hand, "Come dear, to the Hospital Wing. I'll get you sorted out." Half-dragging her down the hall, the others followed. Logan found himself beside McGonagall and decided that if anyone knew the conjuring food thing, she would. But he didn't know how to ask without sounding stupid. "Err, Professor-" "Minerva, please." He nodded, digging his hands into his pockets, and continued, "Well on Halloween I tried to make, er, real food but all I managed to create was a couple parrots." Minerva chuckled, "Well Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration does state that you can't create food from nothing." Logan nodded, "Oh. Well now I know that. Thanks." She nodded, "Your welcome. Now tell me Logan, are you, quite positive, that the man that gave you your claws was, well, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" He stopped: Logan had told only two people about his theory, plus the memories. And neither of those had been Minerva McGonagall. He looked at her and she gave a small smile, "There is very little Albus doesn't trust me with." Logan swallowed and noticed that they had lost the others in their quest for the Hospital Wing. He found himself suspicious of Minerva's intentions. He shook his head of all paranoid thoughts, because only one of four enemies was here at the moment and she wasn't Minerva. Nodding slowly, he replied, "I know what I saw. As sure as these claws, I now it was him." Minerva nodded and sighed, "He was a terrible man who did terrible things and you weren't the first or the last who suffered because of him." Logan nodded and decided to ask the question he'd meant for Dumbledore: "What'd he do to the Potters?" McGonagall started, gaping at him wide-eyed and sputtering, "H-How did you- How do you- How?" Logan sighed, "I heard Scott and Jean talking about it a while back. And the article in the Leaky Cauldron said he'd gone after the Potters." Minerva nodded, "I'm not the best to tell you, and it's a rather long story." Logan shrugged, "I don't have any reason to go to the Hospital Wing so I got time." McGonagall nodded and motioned Logan to follow her, stopping when they reached her office. She motioned to the chair in front of her desk and they both sat down. She conjured up a teapot and cups, "Aguamenti," she muttered, water spouting from her wand and into the teapot. When it had heated, she poured to cups of tea and handed Logan one before beginning. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named went on a terrible rampage, killing anyone he thought unworthy to live or have magic. A prophecy was made, stating that a boy born in July would be marked as his equal and his undoing. But He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named heard only that the child would be his undoing and went after one of two boys who could be it: Harry Potter. Harry was not yet two and his parents, Lily and James, had gone into hiding with him in Godric's Hollow using a Fidelius Charm, which means that one person is told of the location and unless that person tells you, no one can find the location. Their Keeper, Sirius Black, betrayed them to his master and he went after them on Halloween, three years ago. He went in and," she paused and Logan assumed this was where everything went downhill. Minerva took a deep breath, seemingly composing herself, and continued, "And he killed James Potter. He made his way upstairs and Lily tried to shield Harry from him but he killed her too. But when he turned on Harry something went wrong and his own curse was rebounded upon him, vanquishing him." Logan had heard many terrible things in his life time, some he only just now remembered, but this was one of the most terrible. "What happened to the kid?" "He went to live with Lily's muggle sister and her husband: Petunia and Vernon Dursley and their son Dudley." Logan noticed her harsh change in tone and assumed that these people were not very friendly, or that Minerva thought there were several other people Harry could have gone to, and that whoever decided to put him with his aunt and uncle (probably Dumbledore) was a fool.

The clock struck ten and all of the X-Men where now gathered in the Hospital Wing around Storm's cot while Madam Pomfrey worked on getting rid of her unwanted nose. The other victims of Evans prank had been fixed but Storm had waited longer so it was proving more difficult. In between Madam Pomfrey's spells and potions, Storm managed to spit out threats and punishments to Evan who didn't know whether to be scared or amused. "And after you scrub the entire Institute you will-" "Drink this dear." "You will do all of the laundry and wax the X-Jet and every vehicle owned by the X-Men-" "Wouldn't have my mouth open for this charm dear." "Evan you are grounded until you die. And you will clean the Danger Room for a month." Madam Pomfrey finally managed to get the elephant nose off and sent Storm and the others away and off to bed. Storm was still ranting as they went down the hall, and even after Evan, Rogue, Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt had gone to their common rooms. Even after Professor X had bid them goodnight and gone to have tea and chat with Dumbledore, Storm still ranted. Hank went to his room, heaving a grateful sigh as he did, leaving Logan to deal with the rest of Storm's rant to their rooms. Finally he cracked, "Storm if you give one more threat to _me_, who didn't pull the prank in the first place, I'm going to find Filch and make _him_ listen to you." Storm calmed down, rubbing the bridge of her normal nose as she stopped- finally- in front of her door. "I'm sorry Logan I just can't think of anything that would be a proper punishment for Evan. He has to learn." Logan yawned and continued down the hall to his room, "Send him a Howler. Goodnight Storm," he added before she could reply.

Before anyone knew it, the Quidditch game was upon them and with it being Gryffindor against Slytherin, tensions were high. Logan walked into the Great Hall early to find only one of the teachers eating, which was slightly strange considering there were two total. McGonagall raised a slightly shaking spoon of oatmeal to her lips but then set it back down with a sigh as Snape ate peacefully, oblivious to McGonagall's hesitant-if any-eating. Logan sat down next to her, "What's up?" She sent a look to Snape, "Well today is the Quidditch match between Gryffindor-" "And Slytherin," Snape finished. He set down his fork and wiped his hands on his napkin, "I wish your team luck Minerva, though I have done so the past three years and it's done nothing to help the score. We always win the Quidditch cup, and this year will be no different." McGonagall frowned, "Well Severus, luck is always appreciated." He stood and started to leave the hall, "I'd say 'break a leg' but I don't want to jinx anything." Smirking at Logan, he swept out of the hall, robes billowing behind him. Logan narrowed his eyes and turned back to Minerva, "Gryffindor's going to win. Snape's just bitter cause he gets to spend the Hogsmeade weekend with me and Mystique." Minerva raised an eyebrow and finally took a bite of oatmeal, "Really? Well Dumbledore did mention you would be making the trip. I would recommend the Three Broomsticks, not Hog's Head, and don't tell any of the students but Honeyduke's is always worth the visit. And perhaps Zonko's isnt too terrible." Logan nodded, "I'll be sure to pass along the information." McGonagall took a sip of her tea, "I'm no stranger to sarcasm Mr. Howlett. I'm a teacher remember?" He smirked and grabbed a piece of toast, leaving the table and heading towards the Quidditch pitch, planning on wishing Laura, who'd made the team, good luck.

The pitch was filled with all four houses, though only the Slytherin and Gryffindor colors were displayed, and there was a significant amount of red and gold. Logan veered to the left of the crowd, stopping at the changing rooms where Laura had said she'd meet him. She barreled out of the room, dressed in her Quidditch robes and holding her broom. "We're going to crush them!" He ruffled her hair, "You know I'm not supposed to show favoritism to any one house, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see Snape lose." Laura smirked, "I'll hit him with the Quaffle if I can." Logan smirked back and set his arm on her head, just as before, "Just not obviously okay?" She smirked and saluted him before hurrying back to her team. Logan smirked and made his way up to the professor's box, where Kitty was excitedly waiting to commentate. "Mr. Logan look! I'm like, the commentator!" Logan smiled and sat down, crossing his arms, "Way to go Half-Pint." The other professors arrived shortly thereafter and Madam Hooch strode onto the pitch. "Kitty you may begin commentating," McGonagall said from her place next to the excited X-girl. Kitty nodded and took the mic, "Hi I'm Kitty and I'll be your commentator! Gosh I'm so excited! Okay so it's the first match of the season: Gryffindor versus Slytherin! And there are the teams!" Kitty began rambling off the names of each team. She squinted at Laura, who was currently crushing the Slytherin Captain's hand, "Hey! That's, um, Laura. That's Laura the Gryffindor Captain. Yeah." She turned to Logan, "Mr. Logan isn't that your clone? The one that like, attacked the mansion and stuff? What's she doing here?" Logan shrugged, "Same as you kid. Learning." Kitty turned back to the mic, "Sorry about that. Anyway so Madam Hooch just released the Snitch, and there go the Bludgers,.. And she releases the Quaffle! Laura has it and is racing to the Slytherin goalposts. Wow she's fast! I mean I knew she was like, fast on her feet but I didn't know she was like a cheetah! Go Laura! Sorry Professor I'll stay on topic."

Kitty continued commentating and if she hadn't thrown in funny (and mostly accidental) comments it would have been quite boring. Laura almost always had the Quaffle, and she always scored. Her teammates didn't seem to mind but Slytherin wasn't taking losing so well. They tried to foul her anytime they could, and even resorted to plain cheating but nothing worked. One Slytherin even ended up on the ground with a sliced broom. Logan had to bite his fist not to laugh then. "And Laura has the Quaffle again- Hey who's that?" Eyes looked downward to a figure running across the pitch, straight for the professor's box. Kitty looked to Logan, "Mr. Logan is that Sabertooth?" Logan sprang up and looked over the edge. His arch-enemy bared his teeth and growled as he ran towards the support beams. He rounded on the other professors and scanned them, looking for a familiar blue-skinned woman. Mystique rolled her eyes, "You really think I'd mess up my own houses game?" Logan growled and looked back down at Sabertooth. He lunged at the beams and the whole structure swayed. Logan slid his claws out and jumped from the box, landing hard on Sabertooth's shoulder. "How'd you find me?" Sabertooth smirked, "Revenge doesn't wait while you play school Logan." He lunged but Logan dodged sending Sabertooth sprawling. Logan raised his claws to end it but froze. Dumbledore had said no violence and killing your enemy definitely counted. Sabertooth took advantage of his hesitancy and lunged again, this time knocking Logan to the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

The Quidditch match persisted and Laura was on a roll. Even if Slytherin had gotten the Snitch, Gryffindor would win by a landslide. Several screams grabbed her attention. Her excellent eyes found Logan and Sabertooth and she frowned. "He's not supposed to be here," she muttered. Laura flew to the Beater nearest her, "You mind?" She snatched his bat of out his hand and aimed it at a Bludger. With a SMACK! it sailed through the air and hit it's target. Sabertooth swayed and then crumpled to the ground. Logan wiped the blood pouring from his nose onto his robe sleeve and waved to Laura in the air. She smiled and scored another goal. "Take that Sabertooth! You big-" "MS. PRYDE!" "Sorry Professor but the game's over anyway. Gryffindor wins like, hands down! 350-60! Woohoo!"

The X-Men sat in Dumbledore's office, along with the Heads of Houses and Mystique. Even Pietro and Wanda were there. Sabertooth was in the dungeons for the time being. Dumbledore was seated at his desk with his fingertips pressed together and his eyes closed. Finally, he opened them. "In this time of peace, it is strange that Fenrir would attack, especially because he would have to know I was here." Professor X cocked his head, "Fenrir?" Dumbledore nodded, as if it all made sense, "Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf. He was one of the few that felt werewolves should lead the world, and often attacked children in broad daylight." Professor X stared at his old friend, "Albus that was not Fenrir. That was Victor Creed or Sabertooth. He is one of Magneto's Acolytes but I can't understand why Magneto would send him." Logan tried to swallow his guilt, "Cause I was here Chuck. You know he wants me dead. Didn't think he'd find me here to be honest but since when has that ever stopped him? Magneto didn't send him. He does what he wants for the most part, especially when it comes to killing me." Dumbledore was staring at him as though he knew him. As if he'd known a man to suffer the same fate. "Logan I don't blame you for what has happened. Victor's mind will be erased and we will send him back to this Magneto. And by no means does it mean you have to leave." Logan loosened his crossed arms: he'd forgotten Dumbledore could read minds. The headmaster stood and absentmindedly stroked Faux the Phoenix's head, "I will simply add some of the security placed when Voldemort was in power." He ignored the cringes from his fellow professors and fixed them each with a stare, "Fear of a name is fear of the thing itself. Severus, perhaps you could take care of Victor's memories?" The man nodded and swept from the room. There was a brief silence. Pietro looked around the room, eyes resting in Mystique, "When'd you get here?"

The Hogsmeade weekend seemed to come faster than anticipated. One minute Logan was teaching classes and the next he was walking down to the village with two of his least favorite people. Mystique was refusing to look at him, which suited him fine, and Snape was also refusing to look at him, which made everything all the better. Logan stopped at the outskirt of the town, just like Mystique. He was used to small towns and villages because he spent most of his life in them but Hogsmeade was something different altogether. Most of the cottages were stone and looked normal but the stores were what were interesting. Honeyduke's, a sweetshop, was brightly colored and had displays of even more colorful candy in the window. There was a building towards the end of the street that was entirely pink, and Logan knew he'd never step foot in, unless he was dead. Zonko's, the joke shop, was bright orange. And there were fireworks exploding out of a barrel next to the door. Snape seemed oblivious to the marvel's of the village. He was making his way to a building with a sign that read Three Broomstick's Inn. Logan followed and almost had to drag Mystique after them because she wouldn't move. The Inn was rather nice, cramped, but nice. Mystique, who had regained movement, stalked to the table farthest from, well, everything and sat down. Logan reluctantly followed. When they were all seated a woman with curly blond hair in sparkly heels approached them, "Hello Professor Snape I haven't seen you in here in quite some time. And you must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Pleasure to see you here. And I don't believe I've met you," she said cheerily, looking to Mystique. The blue-skinned woman smiled sweetly, "Raven. I'm a prodigy of Professor McGonagall." The woman nodded, "I'm Rosmerta, Madam Rosmerta. Can I get you something to drink?" Snape gave a curt shake of his head. Logan ordered a firewhisky and Mystique ordered an ice water. When she had left, Logan let out a slow breath. Mystique rolled her eyes and drummed her fingers on the table. The silence continued to escalate in awkwardness, only interrupted by Rosmerta bringing their drinks. She refused to take Logan's money however, "Oh no you're a the new professor! This one's on the house." She winked at Logan and sashayed away. Mystique bat her eyes innocently and sipped her water, "Somebody likes the Wolverine." Logan scowled and drank his firewhisky. When he glanced back at Mystique, she'd changed her appearance to match Madam Rosmerta's and was making sappy comments. He shoved her off her chair, causing her to change back. "Stop being a child," he growled. Mystique snorted and sat back in her chair, "Shut it Badger." Logan gave a low growl and Mystique smirked, "Thank Tabitha." Snape, who'd remained silent this whole time, spoke up, "Tabitha?" Mystique nodded, "Tabitha was a child that left the X-Men and came to the Brotherhood. She was really a pain." Logan gave a snort of laughter, "Boom-Boom was the most irritating child to ever join the X-Men. Although Multiple if a close second." "Multiple?" Snape asked. Logan nodded, "I think his name's Jamie. He can make tons of himself." Snape nodded in understanding, and then asked a question he'd really been dieing to know but hadn't really wanted to ask, "What are all of your capabilities? The children and the other three?" Logan leaned back in his chair, "Half-Pint, er, Kitty can phase through stuff. And the fuzzy-elf can teleport places." Snape looked confused, "Fuzzy-elf?" Logan smiled slightly, "Right. I have nicknames for most of the kids. Kurt. Kurt can teleport places. And Jean's a telepath. Scott shoots layers from his eyes. Evan can shoot spikes from his arms and legs. Hank is, well, a beast. Ororo can control the weather and Charles is a telepath." "And what about Rogue?" Logan nodded, suddenly a little more serious, "Rogue can absorb the memories and powers of anyone she comes in contact with. And if she stays in contact too long, she can kill you." Mystique then chimed in, "Wanda and Pietro are mutants as well. Pietro can run faster than the wind. He can also think faster. And Wanda is naturally gifted with magic. Powerful magic." Logan nodded and the finished up, "And Laura is like me." Snape raised an eyebrow, "Laura? The second-year?" Logan nodded, "Yeah she's my clone. She's got to claws in each hand and one in each foot. And then the healing factor." He scowled, "Poor kid had to go through the Weapon X process when she was young."

The three left the pub not long after, making their way back up to the castle. They were by no means friends and probably wouldn't ever be. But it was surprising, mostly to Logan, how much the people in this world seemed to be able to relate to him. And yeah, Mystique was definitely not his friend, and wasn't really even a good acquaintance, but Logan was pretty positive that if he saw her in the hallway, he wouldn't trick her into walking down the wrong corridor anymore. Well, maybe sometimes, but not always.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay so I feel really bad that I haven't updated in so long on this! I've written and published other stuff but I feel like I've neglected this story. I've had the worst case of writer's block on it and it took almost a month to even write this chapter (which I feel bad is so short). I need some help. I want more to add to their Christmas break and stuff but I can't think of anything! Please help! If you have any ideas, please review in this chapter or PM me. I can't promise I'll use all of the ideas that come my way (if any) but just having something to work with would be a great help! Thank you so much! :)**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. No matter how much I wish it were.**

**Again, sorry it's so short but I hope you enjoy!**

November passed and December arrived, bringing with it chilly, snow dusted mornings. Hank was thankful for his fur as he trudged down the hill to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He absently tapped a branch, letting the snow it held cascade down to the ground. A passive poet at heart, Hank loved the serenity that snow brought. The peaceful morning was ruined however, when the students arrived, grumbling about the cold. Hank sighed and sat back on his haunches as the third years gathered around him. Their grumbles quieted and Hank smiled round at them, "Well. Pretty cold huh?" Grumbled replies. Hank smiled again, "Come now this lesson won't be so bad. It'll be fun." One of the Slytherins scoffed, "What could possibly be fun about standing in the cold for half an hour?" Hank smiled again, "'Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.'" Bill Weasley raised his hand, "Is that another Shakespeare quote?" Hank nodded, "Yes Bill." He looked around at the shivering students before him and nodded towards the castle, "Today, class will be inside." A cheer rose from the freezing students as they trudged back towards the castle.

Hank stood in front of a roaring fire in a spare classroom, watching the students unbundle and join him. "So. Shakespeare." A Gryffindor girl raised her hand, "I've heard of him. But who was he really? Didn't he write _Romeo and Juliet_?" Hank nodded, "Yes he did. He also wrote _Hamlet_ and _Macbeth._ But they weren't all entirely his own stories. Shakespeare took old classics and made them his own, new stories. Yes?" He pointed to the girl who had previously held up her hand and was now doing it again. "Didn't he write Midsummer Night's Dream?" Hank nodded, "A wonderful story." He glanced around at the ring of face's that didn't look even remotely bored, surprisingly. "Would you like to hear an excerpt?" He wasn't really expecting them to want to hear it but they all nodded their heads, even the Slytherins. Hank smiled and began to quote the classic, enjoying the attention he'd never gotten at Bayville High.

Logan leaned back a little more, risking tipping the back of his chair onto the two back legs and adjusting his feet on his desk. His arms were clasped securely behind his head. Kitty raised her hand, "So are we, like, going to do anything before the break?" Logan cocked an eyebrow, "The break that's tomorrow?" She nodded. Logan looked up at the ceiling, "I'm thinking we have a real-life exercise. It'll be just like training." Everyone familiar with Logan's training sessions groaned and he smirked, putting his feet down and getting up. "Come on."

He led them to the big oak doors leading to the courtyard and pushed them open. The bright snow was almost blinding and several whispers rippled through the children but Logan quelled them with a look. He gestured to the unblemished landscape behind him, "I expect a good pile." he pointed to his feet and then crossed his arms and looked at the kids. Confused faces met him, but Kitty, Kurt, and Jean were beaming. She pulled the blue-elf to the front and translated for the rest of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, "We have to make snowballs!" Instantaneously the children scattered and began packing snow in their un-gloved hands, ignoring the cold. Logan had them stop when the pile was about as big as Hagrid's dog Fang, and then used his wand to levitate them behind them as they walked. (He was beside himself because the spell had worked.)

Mystique heard the same quiet knock and the same hiss of her name, sighing and finally deciding to acknowledge it, slipping into the hall. She was met with Logan. "Don't you have a class?" He nodded toward the end of the hall, "I told them to wait. Want to help with something?" She crossed her arms, "It depends on whether my health and sanity are in danger." He thought for a moment, "I think you'll be fine." She followed him to the end of the hall, jaw dropping at the floating snowballs above the children's heads. Logan smirked, "Are you going to help?" She nodded and rubbed her palms together, "Oh yes."

They crept through the corridors and to the topmost stairwell, staring down at the many, many staircases below. Right on time, classes ended and they filled with students and teachers alike, all on their way to lunch. Logan turned to his students, "We're under attack and you have your ammo. You know what to do." Kitty saluted and grabbed a floating snowball, hurling it down as a warning shot. Several heads looked up and all-hell broke loose. The kids hurled snowballs down to their victims below and Logan managed to sock Filch in the eye with one. Mystique landed one on Storm's head and then Hank's, pumping her fist triumphantly. Logan took aim and lobbed it at a certain greasy-haired potion's master, barking out a laugh when it hit it's target. Oh they were in so much trouble, but it was totally worth it.

"...Have never in my life been assaulted like that….. thought it was clear that horseplay was not allowed…. suspension… maybe expulsion…." Logan had a hard time listening and keeping a straight face as Filch stammered on and on, his ugly cat snaking around his legs. Logan growled at it and Mrs. Norris hissed, arching her back. He smirked. Dumbledore listened with polite indifference, finally holding up a hand to stop the caretaker's lecture, "I am sorry Mr. Filch, for the attack to your head. If it is really a terrible ailment you may see Madam Pomfrey and perhaps she can assist you. As for the clean up it is really not that big a concern. It is after all, only water." Filch stammered and stuttered but then left, cursing and muttering under his breath. Mystique almost lost it as the door closed but managed to clap her hands over her mouth. Dumbledore chuckled, "Laughter is not a sin, Ms. Darkholme." He turned to Logan, eyes sparkling, "I gathered from your students that that was a demonstration on how to defend oneself using the elements?"

Logan's thoughts flashed to a certain red-headed telepath, the only one who would have been able to come up with such a convincing excuse. A "thank-you" flashed in his mind and it was responded with her own, "you're welcome." He smirked and nodded to Dumbledore who chuckled again, "Well I believe it was successful. Thank goodness the Christmas break is tomorrow hmm? Do you plan on staying?" Logan shrugged, "I don't know. That's Chuck's call." Dumbledore's eyes grew stern but then softened, "Your decisions are your own, Logan." Logan nodded, "I'm staying." "Me too," Mystique added and the old headmaster smiled again, "I am glad to hear it." He nodded to the door and both mutants turned to leave, "I am rather glad you are getting along." Logan scowled as well as Mystique and both tried to exit at once. Mystique managed to shove past him but her smug smile was replaced with sticking her tongue out when he lightly shoved her down the stairs.

Kitty hugged Tonks goodbye as she boarded the train. She waved even after it was gone and then turned and walked back over to Hagrid who was going to take her back. "Kitty right? I'm Hagrid. But you know tha'. So you can walk through stuff." She nodded as they walked, a spring in her step, "Yup. It's like, really cool sometimes. Like getting away from Filch." Hagrid chuckled, "Somethin' wrong with tha' man. Shouldn' work at a place filled with children if ya can' stand children. So you and the others stayin' fer Christmas?" She nodded, "I'm so excited! My first Christmas in a magic castle!" Hagrid ruffled her hair with his large hand, "Well yer in fer a treat. Dumbledore always makes Christmas at Hogwarts extra special."

Along with the X-Men, Wanda, Pietro, and Mystique stayed for Christmas. With no classes, the children spent most of their time outside playing in the snow while the adults decorated for the season. The large tree that went up in the hall was almost twenty-feet tall and as Professor Flitwick hung ornaments with his wand, Logan was really glad it was in the castle and not outside anymore. He'd gone with Hagrid and Hank to find the perfect Christmas tree and they had traveled deep into the Forbidden Forest to find the perfect tree. Logan was happy with any old tree but unfortunately they'd been accompanied by Rogue, who really wanted the perfect tree. Kurt popping in to join them not ten minutes later didn't help either.

"Hagrid how far are we going?" Rogue asked. The large man smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners, "I saw it when I came in here before. Perfect tree. Jus' a little farther." He'd said that every time she'd asked in the last five minutes, which had been about twenty times. A rustling sounded near them and even with the blanket of snow and the leafless trees it was impossible to tell what had made the noise. Hagrid motioned them toward him with his hand, "Keep close now." A figure appeared before them and Kurt popped backward in surprise, almost landing on Logan again. Hagrid stepped forward, "Hullo Bane. Jus' goin' ter get a tree. Fer the holidays. We'll leave soon." The figure stepped into the light, narrowing his eyes and stomping his hooves. His tail flicked irritably and his hand clutched the bow at his side. A centaur. Bane frowned, "Very well Hagrid. There are foals with you. You may go, this time. I will not be so generous next time." Hagrid nodded as the centaur turned and picked his way silently through the trees, "Thank ya' Bane. Stupid show pony. Centaurs are crazy. Mostly talk in riddles. Not interested in us er anythin' tha's not in the sky. Think they can read the stars," he muttered. Logan bit back a laugh and Hank nodded, fascinated. Kurt regained his balance and stuck close to Hagrid's grand form, nearly knocking into him when he abruptly stopped, "There it is! Told yer it was perfect!"

It was the perfect tree and Hagrid felled it, carrying it a majority of the way while Hank and Logan held the back branches off the snow. The large man dropped it suddenly, nodding forwards, "Seems we've taken a wrong turn." Twigs snapping and the crunch of snow sounded. Hagrid squared his broad shoulders and turned to them, waving his hands at them, "Best you go back ter the castle." Kurt didn't need telling twice, grabbing Rogue's robe and teleporting away.

Hank and Logan stayed with Hagrid as the larger man crept forward. He pushed a large, snow-laden branch out of the way and frowned behind his beard. The forest was silent but then it was broken by the soft thud of footsteps. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… All in perfect order, one after the other, as if what was walking towards them had eight legs. A large, bulky object came up in front of hagrid who stumbled back. He let out a breath and chuckled, "Aragog you silly thing. Scared me half ter death." The thing bowed as though ashamed, "I'm sorry Hagrid." It's voice was deep and then it made an odd clicking noise, "You have humans with you." Hagrid grew stern, "They're not fer eaten. They're friends. I'll bring ya some food soon." He turned to Logan and Hank, "This is Aragog. Aragog, this here's Logan an' Hank." The thing came forward and then both Hank and Logan could see what it was.

Eight long, hairy legs unfurled and held the body of Aragog up. He was bigger than a car and stared at them through many, many eyes. Some of them looked foggy, as though he had trouble seeing out of them. He made an odd clicking noise that they saw came from large pincers. Aragog bent his legs slightly as though bowing to them, "You will not be harmed." Hank opened and closed his mouth several times. Logan remained frozen. Hagrid stepped forward and pat Aragog on his massive head, "What're you doin' out here? Knew we was close but thought there was a bit o' distance still." Aragog gave a small nod, "Mosag desired something to eat. None of my children have found anything therefore I went myself." Hagrid nodded and turned to his companions, "Mosag is Aragog's wife. Found her meself. They got loads a children. But they won't harm yeh. Long as yer withe me." He pat Aragog on the head again, "Must be going. Gotta get this tree up ter the castle." Aragog stepped forward and lifted the tree in two of his massive arms, setting it on his back, "Allow me Hagrid." Hagrid smiled, "Can' thank you enough." Aragog nodded, "Anything for a friend."

They began trekking back to through the woods and Hagrid told them all about how he'd gotten Aragog when he was an egg, from a traveller. "Seemed real keen to be rid o' him. Can' imagine why. No better friend than a acromantula. Loyal as a dog. 'Specially Aragog here." they reached the edge of the forest and Aragog set the tree down. "I dare not go farther than this. Farewell Hagrid, friends of Hagrid. Be warned should you come in these woods alone, I cannot deny my family fresh meat." He turned and disappeared through the snowy trees. Hagrid snorted, "Bluffin'." He picked up the tree and began trudging up to the castle. Hank looked to Logan, finally finding his voice, "Sp-spider. Giant. Spider." Logan nodded and began to follow Hagrid, "Mmhmm. We don't mention this to anyone." Hank came to walk next to him, "Couldn't agree more."

Logan shuddered slightly at the memory and watched Professor Flitwick continue with the ornaments. Well mostly he was enjoying watching him trying to teach Storm and Mystique to use their wands to help. He snorted when Mystique tripped into the tree, knocking Storm down as she did. It shouldn't have been funny but it really was.

Logan almost had a heart attack when Hagrid told them twelve trees were put in the Great Hall but then relaxed when he saw they were already there(they'd been up since before the break) and he just hadn't noticed. Christmas day came relatively fast and on that morning, it felt like they were still in the X-Mansion. It started out the same anyway. The kids woke up the adults (with the help of Kitty and Kurt to get passed the locked doors for the specific reason of maybe sleeping in), and then they opened presents faster than humanly(or mutantly) possible(before the adults had even _made_ coffee, let alone drink it) from parents and friends and family and each always got a present courtesy of the elder X-Men. Kitty always attacked Logan with a hug and he'd once told Hank they could get her socks and she'd still act like it was tickets to Disney. Of course there was usually even less kids because they went to their own families for the holidays but it was still the same. Then the kids bundled up as quick as they could and went outside to play in the snow. And normally they'd talk Hank and sometimes Logan into having a snowball fight.

But this year was different because Wanda, Pietro, and Mystique were there, and both children were welcomed with open arms into the festivities while Mystique sulked. She was never any fun this way which was why Logan was not too happy to be the one to give her her present. Especially when she scoffed at it, "I don't want your pity present." Logan thrust it at her, "_I_ didn't get you this. I don't even know what it is. So open it or burn it for all I care. Storm insisted." He didn't understand why women always got so mushy around the holidays. It was just like any other day. Sort of. He left her presence and returned to watching the kids open their presents just as Kitty opened the socks the adults had gotten her. Logan's idea. And he was given an enthusiastic hug just as he'd predicted. Hank pulled him aside, "You're not allowed to pick the presents anymore." Logan smirked, "Bingo."

The children played in the snow until at least five o'clock that night and came in cold, wet, and tired. But Professor X had been told by Dumbledore that they had to meet in the Great Hall so there would be no resting yet. The Great Hall was just as impressive as it was before but the four house tables and staff table had been replaced by one long table with many chairs around it. The X-Men, Maximoff children, and Mystique sank into chairs and were soon joined by Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape, and some of the other teachers. Dumbledore folded his napkin across his lap, "I thought with so few people the large tables would be pointless." He nodded to the large crackers on their plates. "Go ahead. These are always my favorite." Everyone opened theirs with a crack like a gunshot. Confetti shot from all corners of the table and the children excitedly reached in to pull out the paper hat and small trinket inside. Instead, they found wizard hats, bonnets, and top hats as well as chess sets, non-explodable balloons and… "Mice!" Storm practically jumped out of her chair but she settled for putting a hand over her heart and gasping as several white mice scurried across the table, onto the floor, and out the door. Dumbledore smiled, waved his hands and the covers on the dishes vanished, "Enjoy."

The feasts at Hogwarts, even though every night, never grew old and the holiday feasts were always so much more elaborate. The Christmas feast had turkey, potatoes, sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake. Almost halfway through, they were joined by the weirdest person the newcomers had ever met, and that was saying something. She had large, thick glasses that made her eyes enormous, a shawl draped around her long dress, as many bracelets as her wrist allowed, and frizzy hair. She spoke in a soft, slow voice, "Sorry I am late. The Sight told me I should be down here, with you." Dumbledore conjured up a chair and the woman sat down next to Snape, who looked none too pleased that she was there. "Oh yes, you must be the new students and teachers. Pleasure, pleasure. My name is Professor Trelawney I am the Divination teacher. I hope you children will come to my class when possible?" Kitty began to nod but Logan lightly kicked her foot. She turned it into a shrug. Trelawney seemed not to have noticed. She looked to Professor X, "You have a rather dim aura. Something terrible is going to happen to you in the near future. Perhaps you should allow me to read your future in tea leaves." He looked entertained and opened his mouth to speak but McGonagall beat him to it, "Oh please nothing will happen to him. He's at Hogwarts and there's no place safer. Did you come to eat with us or play fortune teller?" Trelawney stiffened and her voice lost it's whimsical edge for the rest of the meal.

As they returned to their rooms with full stomachs, Kitty came up beside Logan, "Why'd you stop me from saying I'd take Divination?" He shrugged, "Cause whatever it was sounded weird and that woman weirded me out." McGonagall came up behind him, "Divination is seeing into the future. Predicting it. Sybill Trelawney believes she possesses the Sight but I've never met anyone less 'possessed' by it. It's the most impractical field of magic. Trust me; you do not want to take a class with that woman." Logan nodded to Kitty, "Exactly my point."

**A/N: Okay so p.s. I've been told my paragraphs are sometimes really long and it's hard to follow and I'm trying to work on that. I hope this was better than previous. What'd you guys think of Aragog? I just felt he needed to make an appearance since they were in the Forbidden Forest. Again, sorry for the shortness. But I hope you enjoyed! And don't forget the ideas! Pretty please with a chocolate frog on top!**


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